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AN 


AMERICAN  COMMENTARY 


ON    THE 


NEW   TESTAMENT. 


EDITED  BY 

ALVAH  HOVEY,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


\L± 


PIIILAUELPIIIA: 

AMEKICAN   BAPTIST   PUBLICATION   SOCIETY, 

1420  Chestnut  Street. 


COMMENTARY 


ON  THE 


REVELATION 


BY 

JUSTIN  A.  SMITH,  D.  D., 

IN   CONSULTATION  WITH 

JAMES  ROBINSON  BOISE,  Ph.  D.,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY, 

1420  Chestnut  Street. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1884,  by  the 

AMERICAN    BAPTIST   PUBLICATION   SOCIETY, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


PREFACE. 


A  Commentary  on  the  Apocalypse  could  not  probably  be  so  written  as  to 
meet  the  views  of  all  students  of  the  New  Testament.  The  interpretation  of 
prophecy  is  always  difficult.  In  this  case  it  is  made  especially  so  by  the  Apocalyptic 
character  of  the  book.  Made  up,  as  Stuart  says,  "  of  one  continued  series  of 
symbols,  unaccompanied  for  the  most  part  by  such  plain  and  explicit  declarations 
with  regard  to  their  meaning  as  are  generally  to  be  found  in  like  cases  among  the 
prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament,"  whatever  theory  of  interpretation  for  the  book 
is  adopted  remains  still  a  theory,  however  confidently  presented,  with  no  such 
ultimate  test  of  its  accuracy  as  to  compel  assent.  The  only  course  open  to  an 
expositor,  in  such  a  case,  is  to  study  the  book  itself  faithfully,  with  such  helps  as 
may  be  available  to  him,  keeping  strictly  to  the  text,  and  making  it  his  business 
to  ascertain  and  state  the  meaning  of  the  text,  leaving  at  one  side,  so  much  as  is 
possible  to  him,  all  preconceptions  and  prepossessions. 

It  is  only  just  that  the  writer  of  this  preface  should  assume  the  entire  responsi- 
bility of  the  method  of  interpretation  used  in  the  commentary  now  offered  to  the 
reader,  as  well  as  of  the  work  in  general,  which  appears  in  it.  Dr.  Boise's  state 
of  health,  together  with  the  pressure  of  professional  duty,  has  made  it  impossible 
for  him  to  undertake  more  than  what  relates  to  Greek  construction  •  and  critical 
exegesis,  save  that  the  section  in  the  Introduction  upon  the  language  and  literary 
style  of  the  Apocalypse  is  written  by  him.  All  the  manuscript,  however,  has  been 
read  to  him,  and  questions  of  textual  reading,  of  rendering,  and  of  exegesis  as 
involved  in  these,  have  been  carefully  examined ;  the  present  writer  havin^  o-reat 
pleasure  in  leaving  all  such  questions  to  be  determined  by  one  whose  life-lono- 
experience  as  a  Greek  instructor,  and  whose  devotion,  now,  to  sacred  studies, 
together  with  his  recognized  eminence  as  a  scholar,  entitle  him  to  rank  as  an 
authority  in  whatever  concerns  New  Testament  criticism. 

The  nature  of  the  work  here  undertaken  seemed  to  warrant  the  writer  of  this 
commentary  in  varying  somewhat  the  procedure  which  may  be  preferred  by  those 


PREFACE. 


who  are  culled  upon*  to  deal  in  a  similar  way  with  other  of  the  New  Testament 
books.  Points  present  themselves  from  time  to  time  that  require  more  of  expan- 
sion than  is  practicable  in  the  exposition  proper.  These  are  treated  in  the  form 
either  of  "  General  Comments,"  or  of  "  Excursus."  Some  of  the  more  general 
aspects  of  the  exposition  itself  are  considered  in  connection  with  these  separate 
divisions.  It  is  hoped  that  a  more  clear,  as  well  as  a  more  full  presentation  of 
some  of  the  more  difficult  subjects  requiring   distinct    treatment  has  thus  been 

practicable. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  book  of  the  Bible  the  literature  of  which  is  in  a  certain 

way  so  little  helpful  to  an  expositor,  as  that  of  the  Apocalypse.     Learned  works 

upon  this  remarkable  portion  of  the  inspired  volume   do,  indeed,  abound,  and 

these  in  matters  of  special  exegesis  are  often  very  serviceable.     But  the  views  of 

the  writers  are  so  utterly  conflicting,  for  the  most  part,  as  to  the  general  scheme 

of  interpretation  adopted,  that  the  student  of  them  soon  finds  himself  driven  to 

take  from  each  whatever  of  useful  suggestion  he  may  find  there,  and  then  proceed 

independently  in  his  search  for  the  meaning  and  lesson  of  the  book.     In  preparing 

this  commentary,  a  somewhat  wide  range  of  reading  and  investigation  has  been 

practicable.     The  works  mainly  used  have  been  those  of  Alford,  Lange,  Hengsten- 

berg,  Diisterdieck  in  Meyer,  Carpenter  in  Ellicott,  The  Speaker's  Commentary, 

Stuart,    Auberlen,    Ziillig,   Wetstein,    Elliott's   Horoe.   Apocalypticce,  Wordsworth, 

Farrar,  besides  lectures  of  Edward  Irving,  and  of  Dr.  Vaughan,  formerly  of  the 

Middle  Temple :  and,  as  among  older  writers,  Bengel,  Brightniau,  Dunbar,  jSIede, 

and  others.     The  scheme  of  interpretation  adopted  is  in  some  measure  eclectic,  and 

still  to  a  considerable  extent  independent.     The  w'riter  has  not  been  ambitious  to 

construct  a  scheme  of  his  own,  but  has  aimed  to  combine  what  seemed  susceptible 

of  use  and  safe  to  adopt,  in  the  commentaries,  especially  of  Ellicott,  Alford,  and 

Lange,  with  much  use,  in  matters  of  critical  exegesis,  of  Diisterdieck  and  Stuart. 

To  the  great  scholars  and  writers  who  have  been  his  companions  in  this  study 

during  some  three  years  and  a  half,  he  owes  a  debt  of  obligation  which  no  merely 

formal  words  of  recognition  and  thanks  could  ever  repay. 

For  the  most  part,  the  Greek  text  of  Westcott  and  Hort,  which  was  made  also 

the  chief  textual  basis  of  the  Revision  printed  in  this  volume  along  with  the 

auth(jrized  version,  has  been  followed  in  our  own  exposition.     There  is  less  occasion 

to  go  back  of  the  excellent  work  of  Westcott  and   Hort,  and  the  manuscripts  so 

much  relied  upon  by  them,  in  any  inquiry  after  the  true  text,  as  the  variations  in 

the  Apocalypse   among   manuscripts,   though    very   numerous,   are   less    vital    in 

character  than  in  some  other  of  the  New  Testament  books.     Manuscript  authority, 


PREFACE. 


however,  has  been  consulted  where  thought  necessary,  and  the  aim  has  been,  so  far 
as  possible,  to  ascertain  the  text  which  most  accurately  represents  that  of  the 
inspired  author  himself. 

To  the  writer  of  these  pages,  the  months  of  study  devoted  to  this  marvelous 
book  make  up  a  section  of  his  life  hereafter  to  be  looked  back  upon  with  peculiar 
feelings.  So  difficult  a  work  would  not,  probably,  have  been  undertaken,  only  for 
the  assurance  of  cooperation  on  the  part  of  the  beloved  and  honored  scholar  who 
has  more  than  redeemed  every  promise  of  aid,  ani  as  well  the  conviction  that  in 
passing  through  the  hands  of  the  Editor  of  that  series  of  commentaries,  what  he 
should  write  would  be  met  with  a  scrutiny  than  which  none  could  be  more  capable 
or  more  generous.  To  have  been  associated  with  Dr.  Boise  and  Dr.  Hovey  in  a 
service  of  this  kind  is  of  itself  occasion  for  the  deepest  satisfaction,  while  the  work 
itself  has  been  self-rewarding  in  no  common  degree. 

J.  A.  SMITH. 

Chicago,  Januaiy  15,  1883. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION. 


I.   ITS  AUTHOR. 


At  the  opening  of  the  Book  of  the  Acts,  we  find  two  of  the  apostles  standing  forth 
with  special  prominence,  and  in  intimate  association.  These  are  Peter  and  John.  In 
those  events  which  signalized  the  opening  of  the  New  Dispensation,  these  two  are  intro- 
duced in  company,  and  so  acting  and  speaking  as  jointly  to  represent  their  brethren  in 
the  apostleship.  Of  the  two,  however,  Peter  is  the  one  who  speaks  and  acts  most  in  the 
capacity  of  a  leader,  and  who,  contrary  to  what  we  should  have  anticipated  of  him — as 
that  disciple  whose  courage  and  loyalty  so  signally  failed  at  the  critical  moment — appears, 
evidently,  as  the  organizer  of  the  infant  church. 

In  due  time  another  figure  appears  upon  the  scene.  The  function  of  the  organizer 
becomes  less  conspicuous,  while  that  of  the  doctrinal  teacher  fills  the  foremost  place. 
This  is  assigned  to  Paul.  But  there  remained  still  another.  A  time  was  to  come  when, 
the  organization  and  order  of  the  church  having  been  settled,  and  its  doctrine  so  fully 
set  forth  as  to  endow  it  for  the  office  it  should  fill  to  the  end  of  time,  as  a  witness  to  the 
truth,  the  opening  scenes  of  its  contact  and  conflict  with  the  world-powers,  which  should 
resist,  and  sometimes  hinder  its  progress,  would  be  unfolded  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
make  it  fitting  that  some  indication  be  given  as  to  what  the  future  of  the  church  should 
be.  Thus  it  comes  about  that  the  last  of  the  sacred  books — the  consummating  pages 
of  Inspiration — takes  the  form  of  pi-nphecj/.  And  so  while  to  Peter  was  assigned  pre- 
eminently the  organizing,  and  to  Paul  the  teaching  function,  to  John  was  assigned  that 
of  the  prophet  of  the  New  Dispensation. 

Of  all  the  apostles — not  excepting  Paul  himself — John  was  that  one  on  every  ac- 
count best  suited  to  the  Apocalyptic  office  which  thus  fell  to  him.  As  we  study  this  final 
book  of  the  New  Testament  revelation  ;  as  we  enter  into  its  spirit ;  and  especially  as  we 
observe  in  what  prominence  the  person  of  the  glorified  Jesus  comes  forth  into  the  field 
of  view — we  realize  the  fitness  of  that  selection  which  makes  the  Beloved  Disciple  the 
recipient  of  these  divine  communications,  and  the  medium  through  which  they  should  be 
transmitted  to  the  church  of  all  the  future  ages.  No  one  of  the  whole  number — as  his 
Gosjiel  and  Epistles  testify  when  comjiared  with  other  writings  of  the  New  Testament, 
rose  so  easily  to  the  plane  of  those  revelations  which  exhibit  the  person  of  the  Son  in 
his  divine  oneness  with  the  Father,  and  in  which  all  spiritual  realities  stand  forth,  less 
as  doctrinal  media  through  which  to  grasp  eternal  things,  than  as  the  eternal  things 
themselves.  No  one  of  them  could  say  with  such  truth  as  himself:  "Truly,  our  fellow- 
ship is  with  the  Father,  and  with  his  Son,  Jesus  Christ"  (1  John  i.  3) ;  it  is  he  that 
we  find  saying:  "The  Life  was  manifested,  and  we  have  seen  it  and  bear  witness,  and 
show  unto  you  that  Eternal  Life  which  was  with  the  Father,  and  was  manifested  unto 

7 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION. 


us"  (1  John  i.  2).  John  entered,  as  none  of  his  brethren  did  or  could,  into  the  spiritual 
arcana  of  the  New  Dispensation,  and  was  prepared  bj^  his  very  mental  constitution,  still 
more  by  his  peculiar  spiritual  attainments,  for  the  wonderful  visions  in  which  a  Revela- 
tion, in  form  and  substance  so  transcendent,  was  to  be  made. 

Over  the  (jucstion  whether  the  Apostle  John  was  indeed  the  author  of  this  book, 
there  has  been  much  controversy.  Two  facts  in  this  connection  are  significant :  (1)  that 
his  authorship  was  first  questioned  through  what  Carpenter,  in  EUicott's  Commentary, 
terms  "doctrinal  prejudice"  ;  (2)  that,  as  is  agreed  on  all  hands,  the  oldest  and  earliest 
witnesses  testify  to  the  Johannean  authorship,  beginning  with  Justin  jNIartyr,  about  the 
middle  of  the  Second  Century,  and  coming  down  to  the  middle  of  the  Third.  At  the 
date  last  given,  an  active  controversy  was  in  progress  between  two  schools  of  Scripture 
interi>retation — one  of  these  carrying  the  allegorical,  the  other  the  literal,  method  to  an 
extreme.  By  the  latter  school,  passages,  especially  in  the  Apocalypse,  referring  to  the 
millennium,  had  been  taken  in  a  grossly  literal  and  material  sense,  giving  offense  to  those 
better  instructed  and  more  judicious.  Dionysius  of  Alexandria,  who  belonged  to  the 
former  school — the  allegorical — in  opposing  these  views,  was  much  disturbed  by  the  use 
made  of  the  Apocalypse;  and  not  satisfied  with  showing  that  the  Chiliastic  teachings 
which  he  combated  were  a  perversion  of  the  teaching  of  this  book,  he  went  so  far  as 
to  question  the  apostolical  authority  of  the  book  itself  He  admitted  it  to  be  the  work 
of  some  "holy  and  inspired  man"  ;  but  denied  that  he  was  an  apostle.  It  was  at  this 
time  (about  A.  D.  247),  and  under  these  circumstances,  that  the  Johannean  authorship 
of  the  book  was  first  called  in  question,  at  least  in  any  reputable  quarter. 

The  later  objections  to  the  Johannean  authorship  of  the  Apocalypse,  originate  in 
much  the  same  way  as  the  earlier  ones,  and  proceed  upon  very  much  the  same  grounds. 
"Doctrinal  prejudice"  predisposed  to  a  hostile  view  of  the  question — the  Christology 
of  this  book,  perhaps,  so  distinct  and  emphatic  in  its  recognition  of  our  Lord's  divinity, 
offending  one  class ;  while  its  millenarian  teachings  were  equally  offensive  to  others. 
The  critical  tendencies  and  methods,  also,  of  the  present  age,  find  in  the  book  a  peculiar 
opportunity.  Its  character  and  structure  are  remarkable.  In  its  style,  it  bears  some 
features  of  singular  contrast  with  other  writings  of  the  same  apostle.  It  is  difficult 
of  consistent  interpretation,  and  has  so  often  been  used  in  support  of  wild  theories 
as  to  fulfillments  of  prophecy,  that  some  of  the  discredit  justly  suffered  bj'  them  reacts 
upon  the  authority  so  unjustifiably  quoted  in  their  behalf  From  all  this  it  has  resulted 
that  first  the  inspiration,  and  then  as  involved  in  this,  the  apostolical  authorship,  of  the 
book  have  been  denied  ;  meanwhile  even  some,  who  would  allow  it  a  certain  measure  of 
canonical  authority,  are  unwilling  to  admit  that  it  was  written  by  the  Beloved  Disciple 
himself  The  subject  cannot  be  treated  at  large,  here.  Briefly  we  touch  upon  the 
evidences  sustaining  the  view  so  long,  and  still  held  by  the  great  body  of  instructed 
Christians,  classifying  them  as  follows  : 
I.  External  Evidences. 

(a)  The  testimony  of  Christian  writers  nearest  in  point  of  time  to  the  date  of  the 
book  itself— such  as  Justin  Martyr,  A.  D.  96  (?)-]66;  Melito  of  Sardis,  died  171 ;  Theoph- 
ilus  of  Antioch.  died  180;  Irenaeus.  140-202;  Tertullian,  160-220;  Clement  of  Alexan- 
dria, 160-215;  Origen,  185-253.  All  these  are  express  in  their  testimony  to  the  fact 
that  John  wrote  the  Apocalypse.  Though  Eusebius,  the  historian,  treats  the  point  as 
undetermined,  he  does  so  in  the  face  of  these  testimonies;  while  writers  subsequent  to 
his  date,  such  as  Basil  the  Great,  Athanasius,  Ambrose,  Cyprian,  Augustine,  Jerome, 
SI)  far  from  sharing  in  his  doubt,  constantly  quote  the  book  as  written  by  the  Ajjostle 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION.  9 

John.  Such  a  concurrence  of  testimony  on  the  part  of  those  in  a  position  to  determine 
a  question  of  this  sort,  and  in  every  other  way  deserving  of  credit,  could  be  set  aside 
only  by  opposing  evidence  of  the  most  conclusive  kind. 

(/>)  The  only  other  theory  as  to  the  writer  in  whose  behalf  the  authorship  of  the 
book  may  be  claimed,  deserving  of  notice,  is  that  which  assigns  it  to  a  person  of  whom 
very  little  is  known,  named  John  the  Presbyter.  He  is  mentioned  by  Papias,  in  a  pas- 
sage of  doubtful  import,  not  as  making  him  the  author  of  the  Revelation,  but  as  one 
of  those  to  whom  he  represents  himself  as  applying  for  information  upon  subjects  of 
Christian  teaching.  Eusebius  also  mentions  a  report  that  at  Ephesus  there  were  two 
monuments,  each  bearing  the  name  of  John,  the  one  being  taken  for  that  of  John 
the  Apostle,  the  other  for  that  of  John  the  Presbyter.  Jerome,  however,  referring 
to  the  same  tradition,  adds  that  some  in  his  time  were  of  the  opinion  that  the  two 
monuments  were  memorials  of  the  same  person — Johaimis  Eoaiigelhtce — "John  the 
Evangelist."  In  a  word,  the  very  identity  of  the  second  John — John  the  Presbyter — is 
so  doubtful,  and  there  is  such  an  utter  lack  of  indication  that,  even  if  this  person  ever 
existed, he  was  capable  of  writing  such  a  book  as  the  Revelation,  that  the  naming  of  him 
in  this  connection  seems  like  the  desperate  expedient  of  the  mere  controversialist. 

II.  Internal  Evidences. 

(a)  Of  these  should  "be  mentioned  :  first,  the  fact  that  the  author  of  the  book  names 
himself  John.  In  four  places  he  does  this  (1  :  1,  4,  9  ;  22  :  8).  The  manner  in  which  the 
name  is  introduced  in  these  places  implies  (1)  that  it  was  a  name  well  known,  and  the 
identity  of  the  writer  sure  to  be  recognized  by  those  to  whom  the  book  was  originally  ad- 
dressed ;  (2)  that  his  relation  to  the  Seven  Churches  named  in  the  early  part  of  the  book 
was  such  as  to  make  him  a  suitable  medium  for  communication  to  them  in  that  tone  of 
authority  and  admonition  which  he  employs.  It  is  known  that  the  Apostle  John  spent 
the  closing  years  of  his  life  among  the  churches  of  Asia  Minor,  and  that  he  held  amongst 
them  a  position  wholly  consistent  with  the  attitude  toward  them  that  he  here  assumes ; 
(3)  in  the  third  mention  of  his  own  name  by  the  author  of  the  book  (1  :  9),  one  is  re- 
minded of  those  words  of  the  Lord  to  John,  with  his  brother  James  (Mark  10  :  38,  39), 
while  they  are  at  the  same  time  in  eminent  keeping  with  what  is  known  of  the  tender, 
sympathizing,  and  fraternal  spirit  of  the  Apostle  John;  (4)  Prof.  Stuart  calls  attention 
to  the  similarity,  in  language  and  tone,  between  the  allusion  to  himself  by  the  writer  of 
the  Revelation  in  chapter  22  :  8,  and  a  like  allusion  in  the  Gospel  by  John,  21  :  24, 
as  having  struck  him  "with  great  force."  In  the  latter  place  we  read  :  "This  is  the 
disciple  which  testifieth  of  these  things,  and  wrote  these  things"  ;  in  the  former  :  "And 
I,  John,  saw  these  things  and  heard  them."  In  every  one  of  these  instances,  therefore, 
it  may  be  claimed  that  the  mention  made  of  himself  by  the  writer,  is  in  perfect  con- 
sistence with  the  theory  that  he  is  none  other  than  the  Apostle  John. 

{h)  The  light  in  which  John  exhibits  Christ  in  this  book — its  Christology — is  an 
important  point  of  internal  evidence.  The  expression,  for  example,  in  1  :  1,  "which  God 
gave  unto  him,"  Christ,  harmonizes  with  the  general  teaching  of  John's  Gospel  as  to 
our  Lord's  divinity,  where,  as  Hengstenberg  saj^s,  the  apostle  "constantly  makes  state- 
ments which  imply  that  the  Son  has  everything  that  the  Father  has,  and  yet  has 
nothing  but  what  he  has  received  of  the  Father."  Stuart,  taking  the  same  view  in 
general,  mentions  as  an  important  point  of  internal  evidence,  "the  Christology  of  the 
Apocalypse  in  respect  to  the  dependence  of  the  Saviour  on  God  the  Father,  for  his 
doctrinal  and  instructions, '^  as  being  "strikingly  in  unison  with  that  of  John."  Having 
compared  the  words,  "which  God  gave  unto  him,"  with  such  passages  in  the  Gospel  as 


10  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION. 

17:7,8;  5:19,20;  7:16,  he  adds:  "Elsewhere  in  the  New  Testament  different 
modes  of  expressing  this  relation  may  be  found ;  but  they  are  unfrequent,  and  wanting 
in  the  special  resemblance  here  indicated." 

(c)  The  use  of  the  term  Logos  as  indicative  of  a  person,  and  as  a  distinctive  title 
of  our  Lord.  This  usage  occurs  nowhere  in  the  New  Testament,  save  in  the  Gospel 
by  John,  in  his  first  Epistle,  and  in  the  Apocalypse.  As  Stuart  says,  "it  seems  to  be 
purely  Johannean." 

((/)  Among  resemblances  between  the  Apocalypse  and  the  Gospel  by  John,  which 
may  be  viewed  as  in  some  sense  casual,  and  still  for  that  reason  all  the  more  noticeable, 
Ls  the  circumstance  that  while  John  is  the  only  one  of  the  evangelists  who,  in  the 
history  of  our  Lord's  crucifixion,  mentions  the  fact  that  his  side  was  pierced  with  a 
spear,  we  find  in  the  llevelation  an  allusion  to  the  same  circumstance  at  1  :  7 — "they 
also  wliich  pierced  him."  Those  who  have  treated  the  two  passages  critically,  call 
attention  also  to  the  fact  that  the  Greek  word  used,  both  in  the  Gospel  and  the  Revela- 
tion, for  "pierced,"  is  different  from  that  in  the  Septuagint  Version  of  the  prophet 
Zechariah  (12:10),  which  in  the  Gospel  is  mentioned  as  fulfilled  in  the  incident 
described.  The  Septuagint  translators  use  one  word  (KaropxeVoc),  and  the  author  of  the 
Gospel  and  the  Revelation  another  {tKK(vTi<^.  This  difference  on  the  one  hand  and 
identity  on  the  other,  in  the  use  of  words  to  express  the  same  idea,  is  regarded  as 
pointing  to  identity  of  authorship  in  the  case  of  the  two  books  last  mentioned. 

(')  It  is  in  the  Gospel  of  John  that  Jesus  is  pointed  out  as  "the  Lamb  of  God 
which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  No  other  of  the  evangelists  gives  him  this 
title.  In  the  Revelation  it  is  so  given  no  less  than  twenty-two  times.  This  free  use 
of  the  symbol  seems  highly  consistent  with  the  marked  and  emphatic  manner  in  which, 
twice  in  the  same  chapter  (John  1  :  29,  36),  the  same  writer  records  the  testimony  of 
John  the  Baptist  concerning  the  Messiah  :  "Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  ! " 

(/)  Other  points  of  evidence  might  be  named,  in  the  verbal  usage  of  the  Revela- 
tion, as  compared  with  other  writings  of  the  Apostle  John.  These,  however,  require  for 
their  adequate  presentation  a  more  critical  treatment  than  will  be  practicable  here. 

II.  LANGUAGE  AND  LITERARV  STYLE. 

"VVe  present  above,  all  that  our  limits  will  allow,  in  support  of  the  commonly 
received  opinion,  that  the  writer  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  of  the  Epistles  of  John,  and  of 
the  Apocalypse,  is  one  and  the  same  person ;  though  at  different  periods  in  his  life,  with 
widely  different  surroundings  and  mental  conditions.  A  point  of  difficulty  is  suggested 
as  regards  the  language  and  literary  style.  How  the  three  causes  just  named  may 
influence  the  style  of  a  writer,  might  be  illustrated  at  length.  Our  own  literature 
presents  many  and  striking  examples.  Whatever  difficulties,  therefore,  we  encounter  in 
Ktuilyini:  the  language  of  those  parts  of  the  New  Testament  attributed  to  John,  the 
Beloved  Discii)le  and  Apostle,  though  they  may  appear  great,  they  are  not,  we  think, 
insurmountable,  and  may  be  intelligently  explained  by  a  suitable  regard  to  the  points 
above  mentioned. 

A  word  will  be  in  place  here  respecting  the  nature  of  the  linguistic  difficulties. 
The  fJreek  scholar,  in  reading  the  Fourth  Gospel,  finds  it  written  in  tolerably  good 
Greek,  with  comparatively  few  di^partures  from  the  literary  language  of  the  time  ;  but  on 
turning  to  the  Apficalyp.se,  he  is  at  once  struck  with  ungrammatical  constructions,  more 
numerous  and   more  marked  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  New  Testament.     Those 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION.  11 


which  we  have  noticed  most  frequently  are  a  neglect  of  the  ordinary  rules  of  agree- 
ment, and  the  repetition  of  the  personal,  after  the  relative  pronoun,  in  the  manner  of 
Hebrew  writers. 

By  the  side  of  this  difficulty,  which  we  shall  frequently  attempt  to  account  for,  and 
more  than  counterbalancing  it  in  our  judgment,  we  will  mention  one  point  that  we  have 
not  seen  presented  elsewhere.  The  young  scholar  finds  all  the  writings  attributed  to 
John  very  easy  Greek.  He  can  in  the  same  time  and  with  the  same  eifort,  "get  out"  a 
much  longer  lesson,  so  as  to  recite  it  satisfactorily,  in  the  Apocalypse,  or  the  Fourth 
Gospel,  or  in  the  Epistles  of  John,  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  New  Testament.  The 
contrast  in  this  one  respect  to  the  style  of  Paul,  or  of  Peter,  or  of  Jude,  is  most  remark- 
able, and  is  something  which  the  young  student,  comparatively  unfamiliar  with  Greek, 
can  appreciate  even  better  perhaps  than  the  most  profound  Greek  scholar.  This 
undoubted  fact  must  be  owing  to  the  structure  of  the  language  ;  and  marks  it,  not  only 
as  peculiar,  but  also  as  similar. 

Granting,  therefore,  that  there  is  a  similarity  in  this  one  respect,  at  least,  in  all  the 
writings  commonly  attributed  to  the  Apostle  John,  we  next  inquire.  Is  there  any  possible 
way,  any  rational  method  of  accounting  for  the  irregularities  in  the  style  of  the 
Apocalypse?  The  comparison  which  we  now  make,  with  a  view  to  this  question,  will  be, 
as  is  usual,  between  the  Fourth  Gospel  and  the  Apocalypse.  Supposing  the  Gospel  to 
have  been  written  about  78  A.  D.,  and  the  Apocalypse  about  95  or  96  A.  D.  (the  dates 
more  commonly  given),  we  have  an  interval  of  seventeen  or  eighteen  years.  The  Gospel 
was  probably  written  before  the  vigor  of  manhood  had  at  all  abated,  and  while  the  writer 
was  surrounded  with  a  Greek-speaking  population.  It  was  perfectly  natural  that  the 
Gospel  should  be  composed  with  care,  with  patient  thought,  and  in  tolerably  correct 
Greek,  such  as  the  writer  daily  heard  around  him.  The  Apocalypse,  on  the  other  hand, 
seems  to  have  been  composed  in  extreme  old  age,  in  the  rapture  of  ecstatic  visions,  and 
in  a  desolate  island.  Circumstances  and  states  of  mind  differing  more  widely  can  hardly 
be  imagined.  It  was  natural  that  the  man  of  advanced  years  should  revert  in  some 
respects  to  the  dialect  of  his  youth,  to  the  inaccurate  Greek  which  he  must  often  have 
heard  and  spoken  in  his  native  Galilee.  A  similar  phenomenon  is  often  witnessed,  if  we 
mistake  not,  in  old  age.  It  was  also  natural  that  the  gorgeous  visions  which  passed 
vividly  and  rapidly  before  him,  filling  him  with  rapture,  should  give  to  his  style  a  peculiar 
form  and  coloring,  which  did  not  appear  when  the  writer  was  in  a  more  calm  and 
deliberate  frame  of  mind.  These  two  considerations,  both  separately  and  in  combination, 
do  not  seem  to  have  been  sufficiently  weighed.  They  are  to  us  a  satisfactory  explanation 
of  the  differences  in  language  between  the  earliest  and  the  lategt  writings  of  John 
the  Apostle. 

We  mention  one  consideration  more,  which  might  lead  one  to  expect  a  new  and 
peculiar  style  in  the  Apocalypse.  The  subject-matter  is  new ;  differing  widely  from 
that  of  any  other  book  of  the  New  Testament.  It  more  nearly  resembles  portions  of 
the  Old  Testament.  While  therefore  we  find  many  words  and  expressions  in  the 
Apocalypse  that  remind  us  of  the  other  writings  of  John,  it  is  not  strange  that  we 
discover  much  in  the  phraseology  that  is  new,  with  Hebraisms  originating  in  the  fact 
that  so  often  the  visions  and  imagery  of  the  ancient  Hebrew  prophets  are  reproduced 
in  his  own. 

If,  then,  these  four  points — difference  of  age  of  the  writer,  difference  of  sur- 
roundings, difference  of  mental  conditions,  and  difference  of  subject-maitter — if  all 
these  are  properly  weighed,  we  need  not  be  surprised  at  the  discovery  of  some  marked 


12  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION. 


diflFerences  of  style  and  of  language ;   and  that  they  would  be  just  what  we  find  them 
Bcems  natural. 

III.  WHERE  AND  WHEN  WRITTEN. 

The  place  where  the  book  was  written  is  sufficiently  indicated  by  the  author  himself 
—"the  isle  that  is  called  Patnios"  (1  :  9).  "  Patmos,  now  called  Patina  and  Patmosa, 
is  a  locky  island  in  the  ^gean  Sea,  situated  not  far  from  the  coast,  to  the  south 
of  Ei)hesus,  a  short  distance  from  Samos.  It  is  little  more  than  one  huge  rock 
proji'cting  out  of  the  sea;  and  at  the  time  of  the  apostle's  exile  was  probably  without 
inhabitants,  unless  it  might  be  other  prisoners,  and  those  who  had  charge  of  the  place 
aij  a  ])rison." — {MaalotKtld.) 

The  date  of  the  authorshii)  is  a  question  of  more  difficulty.  Upon  this  point,  only 
two  theories  will  need  to  be  noticed  here  :  (1)  That  which  fixes  this  date  near  the  end 
of  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Domitian,  about  A.  D.  95,  or  A.  D.  96  ;  and  (2)  that  which 
places  it  in  the  reign  of  Nero,  about  A.  D.  68.  This  latter  date  would  make  the  writing 
of  the  Revelation  precede  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  an  event  that  occurred  A.  D. 
70.  An  important  question  of  interpretation  thus  becomes  involved  in  that  of  the  time 
at  which  the  book  was  written.  Stuart,  with  others,  adopting  the  historical  method  of 
treating  the  synibolism  of  the  book,  makes  an  important  portion  of  it — chapters  5-11. — 
relate  to  the  overthrow  of  Jerusalem,  the  final  destruction  of  the  Jewish  State,  and  the 
close  of  the  Judaic  Dispensation.  To  this  theory  it  becomes  necessary,  of  course,  that 
the  writing  of  the  book  should  antedate  these  events ;  and  as  it  is  agreed  that  the 
exile  to  Patmos  occurred  under  the  reign  of  a  persecuting  emperor,  that  of  Nero  is 
fixed  upon. 

The  limits  necessary  to  be  observed  in  this  Introduction  will  allow  us,  in  speaking 
of  these  two  theories,  to  notice  only  the  chief  points  of  evidence  touching  the  question 
in  hand. 

I.  It  is  natural  to  revert,  first  of  all,  to  such  witness  as  may  be  found  on  the  part 
of  those  who  were  in  a  position  to  have  personal  knowledge  upon  this  subject.  Of  this 
— the  testimony  of  early  Christian  writers — there  is  not  much  of  a  specific  kind  ;  and 
even  this  appears  to  rest  mainly  upon  a  single  passage  of  one  writer — Irenasus.  But 
Irenjcus  is  very  explicit,  to  the  efiiect  that  "the  Apocalypse  was  seen  not  long  ago;  but 
nearly  in  our  own  time,  near  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Domitian."  Irenaeus,  as  a  disciple 
of  Polycarp,  who  was  himself  a  disciple  of  John,,  was  in  a  position  to  be  well  informed 
upon  a  subject  of  this  kind.  Other  writers  near  the  time  of  Irenaeus,  make  similar 
statcniciits,  following,  apparently,  the  authoi'ity  of  Irenaeus  himself.  Various  attemjits 
an;  made  to  explain  away  this  passage  in  Irenasus  ;  to  invalidate  its  authority,  as  itself 
founded — so  these  writers  claim — upon  a  doubtful  tradition,  or  as  susceptible,  in  some 
parts  of  it,  of  a  different  rendering.  After  careful  study  of  the  argument,  we  find 
ourselves  unconvinced,  that  by  any  such  means  the  testimony  in  question  can  be  set 
aside,  or  substantially  shaken. 

H.  The  argument  in  favor  of  the  earlier  date  (a.  d.  68,  or  at  some  time  imdcr  the 
reign  of  Nenj),  rests,  apart  from  its  criticism  of  reasons  given  for  the  later  one,  largely 
upon  pa.s.sagt's  in  the  Apocalypse  itself,  which  are  supposed  to  demand  for  their  exposi- 
tion a  date  lor  the  writing  preceding  that  of  the  destruction  of  Jeru.salem.  It  is  quite 
clear  that  the  interpnitation  cannot  be  allowed  to  fix  the  date,  and  then  the  date  to 
determine  the  interjiretation.  That  method  of  reasoning  cannot,  of  course,  be  admitted 
in  any  case.     The  objectitms  to  this  date  are  such  as  follow : 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION.  13 


(1)  The  positive  testimony  of  the  early  Cliristian  writers,  who  name  Domitian  as  the 
emperor  under  whose  reign  the  persecution  occurred  in  wliich  John  was  exiled  to 
Patmos,   and   the   Revelation  was  written. 

(2)  The  lack  of  historical  evidence,  that  the  persecution  under  Nero  reached  so  far 
as  to  Asia  Minor ;  or,  indeed,  was  felt  beyond  Rome  itself  Numerous  passages  in  the 
Revelation  imply  that  it  was  written  at  a  time  when  bloody  persecutions  of  the  Chris- 
tians widely  prevailed,  as  was  the  case  under  Domitian,  but  not  under  Nero ;  white 
the  exile  of  the  writer  himself  to  Patmos,  which  may  well  have  occurred  under 
Domitian,    is   not  likely,  for  the   reason    named,  to    have  done   so   under  Nero. 

(o)  The  condition  of  the  Seven  Churches  of  Asia  to  whom  the  epistles  in  the  opening 
chapters  of  the  book  are  addressed,  make  it  seem  impossible  that  the  date  of  the  writing 
should  have  been  so  early.  Hengstenberg  justly  regards  this  evidence  as  decisive.  If 
the  Revelation  was  written  in  the  time  of  Nero,  not  above  six  or  seven  years  can  have 
elapsed  since  the  writing  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  by  Paul.  What  the  condition 
of  the  church  was  at  that  time,  may  be  inferred  from  the  tone  of  this  epistle.  Is  it  con- 
ceivable that  in  so  short  a  space  of  time  so  great  a  change  can  have  taken  place  ?  The 
condition  of  all  these  seven  churches,  unless  it  should  be  that  of  Philadelphia,  is  such  as 
could  occur  only  after  the  lapse  of  a  considerable  period,  when  the  influence  of  the  per-  ' 
sonal  apostolic  ministry  had  in  some  degree  declined,  when  the  false  teachers,  such  as  the 
Nicolaitanes,  had  crept  in,  and  when  an  insidious  spirit  of  worldliness  had  corrupted  the 
original  simplicity  and  purity.  If  we  fix  the  date  of  these  seven  epistles  toward  the  end 
of  Domitian' s  reign,  some  thirty  years  will  have  passed  since  the  founding  of  the 
churches  in  Asia  Minor  ;  an  interval  sufficient,  but  only  sufficient,  for  the  development 
of  such  changes  as  the  whole  record  implies.  ' 

The  various  theories  that  assign  for  John's  exile  and  the  writing  of  the  book  other 
dates,  such  as  the  reign  of  Claudius,  that  of  Galba,  or  that  of  Trajan,  need  not  be  dis- 
cussed here.  We  may  close  what  we  have  to  say  on  this  point  with  the  words  of  Alford  : 
"We  have  a  constant  and  unswerving  tradition  that  St.  John's  exile  took  place,  and  the" 
Apocalypse  was  written,  towards  the  end  of  Domitian' s  reign.  With  this  tradition,  as 
has  been  often  observed,  the  circumstances  seem  to  agree  very  well.  We  have  na 
evidence  that  the  first,  or  Neronic,  persecution  extended  beyond  Rome,  or  found  vent  in 
condemnation  to  exile.  Whereas,  in  regard  to  the  second,  we  know  that  both  these  were 
the  case.  .  .  .  These  things  then  being  considered — the  decisive  testimony  of  primitive 
tradition,  and  the  failure  of  all  attempts  to  set  it  aside,  the  internal  evidence  furnished 
by  the  book  itself,  and  equal  failure  of  all  attempts  by  an  unwarrantable  interpretation  to* 
raise  up  counter  evidence — I  have  no  hesitation  in  believing  with  the  ancient  Fathers  and 
most  competent  witnesses,  that  the  Apocalypse  was  written  near  the  end  of  the  reign  of' 
Domitian,  i.  e.,  about  the  year  95  or  96  A.  D." 

IV.  THEORIES  OF  INTERPRETATION. 

The  various  theories  of  interpretation  adopted  in  the  exposition  of  the  Apocalypse 
may  be  classed  as  principally  three.  As  Auberlen  states  them,  these  are:  (1)  "The 
church-historical  view,"  which  "regards  the  Revelation  as  a  prophetic  compendium  of 
church  history,  and  supposes  that  the  exalted  Saviour  has  revealed  therein  the  chief 
events  of  all  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  in  detail,  and  with  chronological  accuracy." 
(2)  "The  second  view  is  peculiar  to  those  circles  of  modern  German  theology  who  deny ' 
the  genuineness  of  Daniel.  They  start  with  a  conception  of  pro]ihecy  which  excludes  a 
real  beholding  of  the  future,  revealed  by  God.     Hence  they  limit  the  view  of  John,  as ' 


14  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION. 

well  as  that  of  Daniel,  to  his  contemporary  history.  .  .  .  This  exegetical  view  is 
.  generally  accompanied  by  the  critical  view,  that  the  Gospel  of  John  and  the  Apocalypse 
cannot  be  by  the  same  author."  (3)  The  third  view  starts  from  a  belief  in  real 
predictions.  It  does  not  even  deny  the  possibility  of  prophecies  so  minute  and  special 
_as  the  interpreters  belonging  to  the  first  class  find  in  the  Apocalypse;  but  it  denies 
"that  the  New  Testament  Apocalypse,  as  it  lies  before  us,  de  facto,  is  or  was  intended 
to  be  a  detailed  history  of  the  future. 

These  general  schemes  of  interpretation  are,  of  course,  variously  modified  in  the 
hands  of  different  writers.  Bengel,  for  example,  with  whom  the  first,  or  ''church- 
historical"  view  originated,  carries  chronological  calculations  to  an  extreme,  leading 
the  way  in  those  interpretations  that  claim  to  find  exact  explanations  of  Apocalyptic 
numbers,  and  even  fix  the  dates  of  events  yet  future.  Elliott,  in  ""Horce  Apocali/pti^ce," 
employs  the  same  general  method,  but  dwells  less  upon  efforts  to  determine  with 
exactness  questions  of  "times  and  seasons,"  and  differs  from  Bengel,  at  many  points, 
in  the  historical  events  he  selects  as  fulfillments  of  Apocalyptic  traditions.  Gaussen  and 
Barnes  follow  Elliott  in  many  things ;  but  differ  from  him  as  to  some  of  the  methods 
proposed  for  bringing  the  history  and  the  prophecy  into  unison.  The  "church- 
historical"  method  was,  at  one  time,  the  favorite  one  with  writers  upon  this  book. 
The  often  arbitrary  manner,  however,  in  which  expositors  have  chosen  out  of  the 
liistory  the  events  to  be  claimed  as  fulfilling  the  prophecy,  and  the  many  instances  in 
which  interpretations  before  the  event,  based  upon  chronological  computations,  have 
failed  of  support  in  the  event  itself,  have  cast  much  discredit  upon  it,  and  have  placed 
it,  in  the  view  of  many  at  least,  in  the  category  of  conjectures,  or  as  mere  exploits  of 
human  ingenuity. 

The  second  general  method  of  interpretation  needs  only  a  bare  mention  here.  It  is 
thoroughly  rationalistic,  unscriptural,  aud  self-destructive.  Surely,  nothing  can  be  less 
"rational"  than  to  expound  a  "revelation"  as  revealing  only  that  which  history  has 
already  recorded — a  "prophecy"  as  being  no  prophecy  at  all!  Besides  that  this 
theory,  whether  applied  to  Daniel  or  the  Revelation,  creates  far  more  difficulties  than  it 
removes. 

The  latest  results  of  careful,  scholarly  study  of  this  subject,  seem,  for  the  most  part, 
to  favor  the  third  method  of  interpretation  noticed  above.  This  theory  recognizes, 
without  reserve,  the  prophetical  character  of  the  Apocalypse.  It  views  the  book  as  a 
"revelation,"  in  prophetic  form,  of  the  purpose  of  God,  as  respects  both  the  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  world  in  which  it  abides,  from  the  opening  of  the  Christian 
Dispensation  to  its  very  close.  In  this  general  and  large  sense,  it  is  therefore  "  church- 
historiciil."  But  it  does  not  attempt  details  of  the  kind  so  often  found  impracticable 
and  delusive.  The  actors  on  the  great  Apocalyptic  scene  it  views  more  as  powers  and 
prinn'ph's,  than  as  intlin'dudJs,  and  traces  fulfillments,  therefore,  more  in  the  line  of  great 
movements,  than  in  that  of  special  events.  The  unfolding  and  application  of  this 
method  of  interpretation  in  the  exposition  which  follows  must,  for  the  most  part,  be 
left  t^)  ajtpcar  in  the  expo.sition  itself     A  few  chief  points  only  can  be  indicated  here. 

As  all  writers  upon  the  Apocalypse,  so  far  as  we  know,  are  agreed,  the  outline  study 
of  the  book  finds  its  contents  falling  naturally  into  three  main  divisions.  The  first  is 
introductory,  and  embraces  the  three  first  chai)ters.  This  includes  the  exordium  proper, 
and  those  letters  or  niessages  to  the  Seven  Churches,  which,  while  supplying  a  basis  to 
what  follows,  are  suited  to  prepare  the  reader  of  every  age  for  the  mingled  admonition 
and  encouragement  of  the  succeeding  visions.      With  the   fourth  chapter,  the  more 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION.  15 

strictly  Apocalyptic  portion  of  the  book  begins.  To  the  end  of  the  eleventh  chapter, 
in  a  series  of  striking  pictures,  future  things  in  their  relation  to  the  Kingdom  of  God  in 
this  world  are  set  forth,  in  a  way  to  forewarn  the  church  in  each  age  of  the  testing 
trials  that  are  coming,  and  at  the  same  time  to  show  how  God  is  "for"  it,  in  judgments 
visited  upon  a  persecuting  and  ungodly  world,  and  in  the  final  complete  triumph,  when 
the  kingdoms  of  this  world  finally  "become  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of  his 
Christ."  With  the  twelfth  chapter  another  series  of  visions  opens,  in  which  the  same 
general  scene  is  presented ;  but  at  new  points  of  view,  and  in  a  new  aspect.  It  begins 
with  the  very  opening  of  the  Dispensation — the  birth  of  the  man-child.  Consistently 
with  this  feature  at  the  beginning,  it  personifies,  under  a  new  system  of  imagery,  the 
forces  entering  into  the  great  spiritual  contest,  running  through  centuries,  with  such 
variety  of  awful  vicissitude,  to  the  end  of  time.  This  division  of  the  book  closes  with 
the  nineteenth  chapter.  The  twentieth  chapter  may  be  treated  as  transitional.  In  it  "the 
mystery  of  God ' '  is  finally  finished,  and  "  the  time  of  the  end"  comes.  From  the  begin- 
ning of  the  twenty-first  chapter  to  the  close  of  the  book,  the  final  happy  condition  of  the 
redeemed  is  set  forth,  under  a  vivid  symbolism,  which  might  almost  be  said  to  exhaust 
the  capabilities  of  even  inspired  imagination. 

In  connection  with  the  general  view  of  the  method  of  interpretation  followed  in  our 
exposition,  a  variety  of  special  questions  arise,  which,  however,  our  space  will  not  allow 
us  to  consider  now.  We  leave  them,  therefore,  for  particular  examination  in  our  treat- 
ment of  the  text. 

V.  SYMBOLISM  OF  THE  BOOK. 

The  symbolism  of  the  Apocalypse  we  regard  as  susceptible  of  a  classification  which 
may  shed  light  upon  its  exposition.  This  classification  is  based  upon  the  outline  view  of 
the  book  already  indicated.  Passing  by  the  Introduction,  when  we  come  to  the  first 
series  of  visions  (ch.  4-11),  we  find  upon  examination  that  while,  as  in  those  which 
follow,  there  is  a  reproduction  of  the  symbolism  used  in  Old  Testament  prophecy,  it  is 
that  symbolism  as  it  occurs  in  a  particular  connection.  Even  the  opening  of  this  part  of 
the  Revelation,  its  Theophany — its  sublime  description  of  that  manifestation  of  God 
which  the  seer  beholds  through  the  open  door  of  heaven — is  strictly  in  keeping  with  that 
found  in  the  opening  chapters  of  Ezekiel,  and  which  introduces  the  long  array  of  God's 
judgments,  alike  in  punishment  of  his  people's  degeneracy,  and  in  the  destruction  of 
their  enemies.  The  symbolism  that  follows,  as  foreshadowing  the  retributive  dispensa- 
tions coming  upon  the  apostate  church  and  the  ungodly  world,  is  almost  a  reproduction 
of  that  in  Ezekiel  and  in  Joel.  Compare,  for  example.  Rev.  6  :  4-6,  with  Ezek.  4  :  9-17, 
where  the  symbols  representative  of  famine  are  used  ;  also.  Rev.  6  :  8,  9,  with  Ezek.  5 : 
10-13,  where  pestilence  is  threatened  and  described.  Then,  where  the  locusts  are  intro- 
duced in  Revelation,  with  other  attendant  judgments  and  miseries,  the  reader  recognizes, 
at  once,  the  imagery  already  made  familiar  in  the  prophecy  of  Joel.  In  the  description 
of  the  Two  Witnesses,  distinct  reference  is  made  to  that  passage  in  Zechariah  which 
speaks  of  Joshua  the  high-priest,  and  Zerubbabel  the  civil  governor,  as  representing  the 
spiritual  order  of  the  Judaic  Dispensation,  on  the  one  hand,  and  its  secular  order  upon 
the  other,  symbolized  in  the  candlesticks  and  the  olive  trees,  "standing  before  the  God 
of  the  earth."  The  measurement  of  the  Temple,  in  Rev.  11,  reminds  us  at  once  of  a 
like  representation  of  the  Jewish  polity  found  in  Ezekiel ;  while  the  direct  and  specific 
mention  of  "the  great  city,  where  also  our  Lord  was  crucified"  (Rev.  11  :  8),  in  a  yet 
more  pointed  way  indicates  that  the  symbolism  in  this  part  of  the  book  follows  a  line  of 


16  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION. 

representation  having  reference  to  the  kingdom  of  God  in  its  Judaico-Christian  concep- 
tion. In  other  words,  we  view  this  part  of  the  prophecy  as  representing  the  church,  in 
its  general  idea  as  the  kingdom,  under  that  view  which  Paul,  in  some  of  his  epistles, 
malvos  so  prominent,  viz.,  as  the  true  Israel.  A  marked  indication  of  this  is  the  sealing 
of  the  "  luindred  and  forty  and  four  thousand  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel,"  described  in  the 
seventh  chapter. 

When  we  come  to  the  second  division  in  our  analysis  of  the  book  (ch.  12-19),  we 
notice  a  remarkable  change  in  the  character  of  the  symbolism.  The  likeness  to  Old 
Testament  symbolism  is  retained,  but  to  this,  as  we  find  it  in  another  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment books — the  Book  of  Daniel.  The  imagery  used  by  him  to  represent  certain  great 
world-powers,  in  their  nature,  action,  and  destiny,  is  again  used  by  John  in  his  picture  of 
like  things  and  hke  events.  It  is  a  change  in  the  sjaubolism  corresponding  to  the  change 
ill  the  point  of  view.  There  is  a  succession  of  "beasts"  combining  in  themselves  attri- 
butes of  those  most  ferocious,  and  seeking,  as  is  their  nature,  to  waste,  consume,  and 
destroy  ;  yet,  as  it  is  represented  in  Daniel,  themselves  consumed  and  destroyed  in  the 
end.  The  representation  of  organized  antichrist!  ui  powers  as  "Babylon,"  recalls  the 
very  scene  of  Daniel's  own  visions  and  prophecies,  while  the  angelic  ministries  used 
remind  us  of  that  which  he  himself  enjoyed.  The  conception  of  the  church  as  a  woman 
in  heaven  clothed  with  the  sun,  symbolizing  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  the  man-child  to, 
whom  she  gives  birth,  recalls  Daniel's  "  one  like  the  Son  of  man,"  who  "came  with  the 
clouds  of  heaven."  Under  this  symbolism,  as  a  whole,  we  seem  to  have  presented  the 
Kingdom  of  God  in  its  more  direct  conflict  with  the  power  of  the  world  ;  a  more  distinct 
personification  of  those  forces  that  stand  arrayed  against  each  other  during  the  whole 
period  of  gospel  propagation — spiritual,  heavenly,  gracious  upon  the  one  hand  ;  worldly, 
devilish,  destructive  on  the  other — and  a  more  decided  and  exj^ress  indication  of  the 
essential  character  of  each. 

In  the  concluding  chapters  of  the  book  (21,  22),  the  imagery  carries  us  back  to  the 
first  chapters  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  to  the  beginning  of  things  in  this  world,  as  if 
to  make  more  vivid  the  truth  that,  in  making  "all  things  new,"  the  Redeemer  follows 
the  pattern  of  that  which,  as  Creator,  he  originally  framed.  There  are  "  new  heavens  " 
and  "a  new  earth"  ;  not  as  the  old,  but  a  heaven  and  an  earth  "wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness."  There  is  a  paradise,  after  the  similitude  of  the  original  one;  only  in 
this  the  garden  becomes  a  city.  It  is  no  longer  open  to  invasion,  as  the  first  Eden  was  ; 
but  has  walls  and  gates  for  defence ;  and  into  it  shall  enter  no  manner  of  abomination, 
nor  anything  that  '' loveth  and  maketh  a  lie."  Through  this  city  flows  the  River  of 
Life,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  broad  street  of  the  city  is  the  Tree  of  Life.  Thus  is  the 
old  restored  in  the  new — restored  in  myriad-fold  splendor,  beauty,  and  delight ;  and  so 
as  to  be  tluinceforth  forever  secure. 

Any  dis(;ussion  in  detail  of  Apocalyptic  symbolism,  including  that  of  Apocalyptic 
numbers,  will  be  best  reserved  for  the  exposition. 

VI.  CHARACTER  OF  THE  BOOK. 

As  John  is  the  prophet  of  the  New  Dispensation,  so  the  book  we  arc  to  study  is  its 
propheri/.  Whatever  of  this  nature  appears  in  earlier  parts  of  the  New  Testament  is 
mostly  what  we  may  venture  to  term  prophetic  glimpses.  It  conies  into  the  narrative 
or  tlie  discussion  as  incidental,  rather  than  as  composing  the  main  subject.  This  is  true 
ev«Mi  iif  thdsi;  mnarkabli!  predictions  of  our  L)rd  in  the  twenty-fourth  and  twenty-fifth 
of  Matthew.     These  are  given  in  answer  to  an  inquiry  of  the  disciples ;  and  while  they 


INTEODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION.  17 

are  not,  indeed,  to  be  treated  as  merely  casual  utterances,  but  weighty  announcements 
as  to  things  even  now  future — some  of  them — deserving  the  most  reverent  and  thought- 
ful study  ;  yet  it  is  made  plain  in  many  ways,  there  and  elsewhere  in  the  record,  that  our 
Lord  did  not  appear  as  a  prophet,  in  the  sense  of  having  it  for  his  peculiar  office  to 
declare  things  to  come.  Indeed,  he  more  than  once  checked  his  disciples  when  they 
sought  to  gain  from  him  something  of  that  knowledge  of  the  future  which  it  is  so 
natural  for  men  to  desire.  The  day  and  the  hour,  the  "times  and  seasons,"  especially, 
he  treated  as  things  not  within  the  province  of  his  personal  nnnistry  ;  and  indeed  only 
announced  those  coming  events  that  stood  in  some  such  relation  to  the  purpose  of 
that  ministry  as  made  their  announcement  not  only  suitable,  but  necessary. 

In  the  preaching  and  the  epistolary  writing  of  the  apostles,  a  like  thing  appears. 
There  is  a  certain  reserve  apparent  in  the  allusions  made  to  future  things  as  revealed  by 
the  Spirit  of  inspiration.  The  language  used  is  general,  and  to  some  extent  vague, 
while  the  prophetic  utterance  is  evidently  made,  at  all,  only  with  reference  to  the 
general  purpose  in  view  in  the  passage  where  it  occurs.  The  mention  made  by  Paul  of 
the  "mystery  of  iniquity"  and  the  "Man  of  Sin"  ;  to  the  coming  of  the  Lord  and  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead ;  and  by  Peter  to  the  melting  of  the  elements,  the  passing 
away  of  the  heavens,  and  the  new  heavens  and  new  earth,  may  be  quoted  as  examples. 
It  seems  clear  that  all  fullness  of  New  Testament  prophecy,  not  only  in  details,  but  in 
general  outline,  was  left  to  be  the  subject  of  that  one  of  these  writings  in  which  the 
whole  Book  of  divine  records  and  revelations  should  have  its  consummation  and 
completion. 

It  is  further  to  be  noticed  that  the  prophecy  in  this  book  is  Apocalyptic.  Between 
that  which  is  Apocalyptic  and  that  which  is  simply  prophetic,  a  distinction  is  to  be  made. 
When  we  speak  of  prophecy,  we  allude  to  the  disclosure  of  what  is  future  more  upon  its 
human  side.  It  is  the  utterance  of  the  prophet.  Apocalypse — the  nncovering  of  that 
which  is  hidden — or  revelation — is  a  divine  act.  The  revealing  element  is  in  both  ;  only 
in  the  one  it  is  the  utterance  of  the  revelation  that  is  chiefly  implied  ;  in  the  other  its 
communication  to  the  prophet  himself.  In  the  book  before  us,  the  divine  side  of 
prophecy  is  peculiarly  manifest.  It  is  the  divine  disclosure  of  divine  purpose ;  the 
unsealing  of  the  Book  of  the  divine  purpose  by  a  divine  hand :  '''the  Revelation  of  Jesus 
Christ,  which  God  gave  unto  him,  to  show  unto  his  servants  things  which  must  shortly 
come  to  pass;  and  he  sent  and  signified  it  by  his  angel  unto  his  servant  John."  The 
human  instrument  in  its  record  here,  is  almost  lost  in  the  grandeur  of  that  which  he  has 
to  disclose.  We  see  him  as  if  rapt  away  amidst  the  wonders  of  the  transcendent  vision, 
and  even  his  voice  is  to  us  like  that  of  one  speaking  from  behind  a  veil,  or  lost  in  the 
clouds. 

VIL  WHY  WAS  IT  WRITTEN? 

Prophecy  seems  to  be,  in  part,  a  response  to  that  in  man  which  prompts  the  desire 
for  a  knowledge  of  the  future.  This,  as  is  well  known,  has  sometimes  led  to  results 
highly  pernicious  in  their  nature,  offering  opportunity  for  those  who  trade  upon  the 
credulity  of  mankind,  and  inducing  the  resort  to  means  more  than  questionable  for 
penetrating  the  veil  that  hangs  between  the  future  and  the  present.  In  itself,  no  doubt, 
the  tendency  is  a  right  one,  fdr  the  very  reason  that  it  belongs  so  much  to  the  essential 
nature  of  man.  We  are  therefore  not  surprised  to  find  the  Spirit  of  inspiration 
addressing  it  in  the  interest  of  what  most  deeply  concerns  alike  the  individual  and 
the  race. 

But  this,  of  course,  does  not  explain  the  whole  purpose  of  Scripture  prophecy  in 

B 


18  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION. 


general,  or  of  this  one  now  before  us  in  particular.  It  would  further  seem  to  be 
appropriate  to  the  very  nature  of  a  collection  of  inspired  writings,  that  it  should  include 
aecrediti'(l  pn.'dictions  of  future  things.  Having  their  ultimate  source  in  that  Infinite 
Mind  to  which  the  future  is  as  the  present,  it  might  well  be  presumed  that  the  scope  of 
such  writings  would  partake  somewhat  of  the  character  of  the  mind  that  inspired  them, 
and  be  accredited  as  thus  inspired  by  the  very  fact  that  they  prove  their  independence 
of  limitations  that  affect  all  human  productions.  Thus  the  writing,  when  in  the  event 
prediction  reaches  its  fulfillment,  becomes  its  own  ample  witness,  the  Author  of  the 
Bible  revealing  himself  in  his  word,  as  the  Author  of  nature  in  his  works. 

A  moment's  further  reflection  suggests  how  incomplete  and,  in  a  sense,  unsatis- 
factory a  book  like  the  Bible  would  be  without  this  feature.  Its  subject  may,  in  the 
most  general  way,  be  said  to  be  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the  world.  That  kingdom  in 
its  own  nature  embraces  for  its  period  the  entire  history  of  the  human  race.  It  is  well 
nigh  inconceivable  that  the  account  of  it  given  through  inspiration  should  be  limited  to 
any  section  of  this  period,  or  alone  specially  adapted  to  the  men  of  that  generation  to 
which  it  is  first  of  all  given.  It  is  not  enough  that  it  is  a  history,  or  a  body  of  doctrine. 
The  very  essential  purpose  of  it  requires  that  it  should  still  look  forward  from  the  point 
of  view  of  any  one  age,  however  far  down  the  stream  of  time  that  age  may  be,  and  still 
have  something  to  disclose,  appealing  to  hope  and  desire  ;  something  future,  to  which 
the  people  of  the  covenant  may  still  look  as  a  coming  glory  or  a  coming  struggle. 
Having  that  feature  in  the  measure  in  which  we  find  it  there,  the  Bible  is  an  inspiration 
to  one  age  in  the  same  way  that  it  is  to  another  ;  its  riches  of  impulse  and  admonition 
^nd  encouragement  being  as  exhaustless  as  its  riches  of  instruction  and  reproof  and 
present  comfort. 

Consi.stently  with  this  view  of  Scripture  prophecy  in  general,  we  think  it  sufficient  to 
say  of  the  Apocalypse  in  particular,  that  it  is  a  foreshowing  of  the  fortunes  of  the 
Christian  church,  viewed  as  the  spiritual  Kingdom  of  God,  during  the  ages  of  its  militant 
state  ;  to  which  is  superadded  a  prophetic  glimpse  of  that  final  triumphant  and  perfect 
state  which  comes  in  the  restoration  of  all  things.  Its  purpose  must  be  to  forewarn 
upon  the  one  hand,  to  inspirit  and  sustain  with  courage  upon  the  other.  These  ends  it 
has  served  efficiently,  during  the  centuries  of  the  Christian  Dispensation  thus  far,  and 
these  ends  it  still  continues  to  serve.  But  to  this  may  be  added  the  fact  that  scarcely 
any  one  of  the  sacred  writings  has  answered  the  end  alike  of  intellectual  and  spiritual 
iruipimtiou  so  fully  as  the  Apocalypse  ;  and  this  also  we  must  presume  to  have  been  con- 
templated in  it.  The  book  is  a  wonderful  one,  even  for  those  who  deny  its  prophetic 
character  :  a  marvelous  creation  of  imaginative  genius,  even  were  it  this  alone.  But  it  has 
commended  itself  as  more  than  this  to  so  many  superior  minds,  has  supplied  such 
impulse  to  inquiry,  and  iiisjjired  so  much  of  elevating  and  quickening  study,  that  it  may 
truly  be  said,  in  its  intellectual  and  spiritual  influence,  to  crown  and  consummate  those 
Scriptures,  all  of  which  have  been  in  the  world  such  an  element  of  both  spiritual  and 
intellectual  power. 

"  To  show  unto  his  servants  things  which  must  shortly  come  to  pass.  .  .  .  Blessed," 
indeed,  "  is  he  that  readeth  and  they  that  hear  the  words  of  this  prophecy,  and  keep 
those  things  which  are  written  therein  :  for  the  time  is  at  hand." 

VI.  THE  PAROUSIA. 

If  any  one  theme  can  be  nanu-d  as  the  absorbing  and  comprehensive  one  in  this 
book,  it  must  be  given  to   us  in  the  words  (1  :  7),  "Behold,  he  comoth  with  clouds." 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION.  19 


With  this  announcement  the  book  opens.  With  the  Lord's  own  declaration,  "Behold; 
I  come  quickly  "  (22  :  7),  and  the  response  of  his  servant,  "Even  so,  come,  Lord  Jesus," 
the  book  closes.  The  Dispensation  whose  events  and  issues  the  book  in  the  main 
prophetically  traces,  so  far  from  being  a  final  one,  is  but  preparatory  to  that  which  is 
final.  Of  this  fact,  indications  appear  everywhere  in  the  book  itself,  down  to  its  closing 
chapters.  The  scene  presented  is  not  that  of  a  final  condition,  settled  and  permanent, 
but  a  broken  and  changeful  one  ;  a  theatre  upon  which  warring  forces  meet,  a  vast  stage 
of  human  history  crowded  with  actors  and  issues,  while  in  some  of  the  changes  of  the 
tremendous  drama,  heaven  itself  seems  in  suspense  as  to  what  the  final  act  shall  be. 
The  souls  of  martyred  ones  under  the  altar,  through  many  centuries  of  ordeal,  are 
crying,  ' '  How  long  !  0  Lord  ? ' '  while  it  is  only  in  the  finishing  of  ' '  the  mystery  of  God ' ' 
that  any  final  answer  is  given. 

All  this  indicates  a  continual  looking  forward;  the  attitude  is  one  of  expectation; 
only  as  this  consummation  is  reached  is  the  key  to  the  m^'steries  of  divine  providence 
at  last  found.  And  that  consummation  reaches  its  climax  in  the  personal  coming  of  the 
Lord.  Now,  the  crucial  point  in  the  interpretation  of  this  book  is,  for  these  reasons,  that 
which  concerns  this  second  personal  advent,  more  especially  in  its  relation  to  that  peculiar 
and  significant  feature  of  the  whole  prophecy — the  millennium.  This  is  not  the  place  to 
set  forth  the  reasons  which  influence  us  in  placing  this  personal  second  advent  after  the 
millennium,  rather  than  before.  It  must  suffice,  here,  to  simply  announce  the  fact  that 
our  convictions,  after  careful  study  of  the  prophecy,  compel  this  conclusion.  The 
grounds  upon  which  these  convictions  rest  will  appear  in  the  proper  place.  For  the 
present,  we  simply  declare  our  acquiescence  in  that  view  of  this  second  coming  of  our 
Lord  which  makes  it  the  great  event  of  the  future ;  which  regards  it  as  bearing  a  rela- 
tion to  all  that  is  now  passing,  and  is  yet  to  come  in  the  present  Dispensation,  no  less 
vital  than  the  first  advent  bore  to  the  four  thousand  years  of  human  history  that  pre- 
ceded it ;  and  which  claims  that  only  as  this  event  is  set  in  its  true  relations,  can  this 
consummating  Book  of  the  New  Testament  be  adequately  understood  or  explained. 

IX.   GENERAL  ANALYSIS. 

A  phrase  rich  in  significance  occurs  at  ch.  10  :  7,  in  this  book — "the  mystery  of 
God:" — "In  the  days  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel,  when  he  is  about  to  sound, 
then  is  finished  the  mystery  of  God,  according  to  the  good  tidings  which  he  declared 
to  his  servants,  the  prophets"  {Revised  Version).  This  "mystery  of  God"  may,  in 
general,  be  said  to  be  the  subject  of  the  book.  One  finds  in  it,  indeed,  when  carefully 
studied,  what  seems  like  a  gathering  up,  in  brief  and  sublime  summary,  of  the  whole  of 
that  inspired  prophecy,  the  details  of  which  we  find  sown  all  through  the  earlier  books 
of  Scripture.  It  is  a  panoramic  exhibition  of  the  divine  procedure  in  dealing  with  the 
church  and  the  world.  It  is  human  history  at  the  point  of  view  of  the  Kingdom  of  God 
in  its  origin^  its  ordeal,  its  progress.,  its  con.snmma.tion. 

Of  course,  a  group  of  visions  and  allegories  cannot  be  subjected  to  processes  of 
logical  analysis  as  other  writings  may.  It  is  only  after  much  study  of  such  that  the 
adjusting  principle  begins  to  disclose  itself,  and  only  after  the  details  have  been  in  some 
degree  understood,  that  the  general  system  in  which  these  appear  in  orderly  arrange- 
ment is  even  suspected.  If  we  proceed  to  state,  here,  our  own  impressions  as  to  the 
adjusting  principle  and  the  general  system  of  the  Apocalypse,  as  it  appears  to  us  after 
much  study  of  it,  verse  by  verse  and  chapter  by  chapter,  we  keep  in  mind  the  fact  that 


20  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION. 


very  many  such  have  been  already  proposed ;  and  that  if  others  have  failed  to  grasp  the 
idea  of  this  difficult  writing,  so  also  may  we. 

Assuming  that  what  we  term  the  adjusting  principle  in  this  remarkable  series 
of  visions  and  allegories  is  as  we  have  stated — a  comprehensive  disclosure  under  pro- 
phetic forms,  of  that  "  mystery  of  God"  which  is  the  substance  of  "  the  good  tidings  " 
declared  ''to  his  servants  the  prophets  "—we  find  the  subject  of  the  book  falling 
naturally  into  four  general  divisions. 

I.  The  first  is  the  origin,  or  hcgiiming,  of  that  Kingdom  of  God  which  is  the  central 
and  regulating  fact  in  the  annals  of  our  race.  This  is  given  to  us,  consistently  with  the 
general  character  of  the  book,  under  the  forms  of  symbol  and  allegory.  That  in  the 
history  of  this  spiritual  Kingdom  of  God  which  antedates  Christianity  is  brought  to' 
view  in  the  theophany  that  forms  the  subject  of  the  fourth  chapter.  The  King 
is  there  seen  enthroned.  The  encircling  Elders,  on  their  four  and  twenty  subordinate 
thrones,  represent  at  once  that  ancient  divine  order  which  anticipated  and  foreshadowed 
the  gospel,  and  the  later  and  consummating  one  seen  in  the  Church  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 
The  four  living  creatures — symbols  of  the  sentient  creation — represent,  in  the  vision,  the 
fact  that  this  Kingdom  of  God  comprehends  all  being,  while  in  those  acts  of  adoration 
ahd  worship  in  which  they  join  with  the  elders,  they  recognize  the  supremacy  of  the 
enthroned  One,  and  the  universality  of  his  reign.  In  the  midst  of  these  stands  the 
Lxmb,  "as  it  had  been  slain,"  receiving  the  sealed  book,  and  alone,  in  all  the  universe, 
found  worthy  to  "open  the  book  and  loose  the  seals  thereof"  ;  symbolizing  the  central 
place  filled  in  all  history,  sacred  and  secular,  by  the  fact  of  redemption,  and  also  the 
truth  that  the  key  to  all  history  is  the  incarnation,  the  death,  the  resurrection,  and  the 
ascension  of  the  Son  of  God.  We  shall  have  frequent  occasion  to  observe  how  in  all  the 
succession  of  visions,  the  many  and  striking  changes  of  scene  throughout  the  Apoca- 
lyptic drama,  these  several  features  of  the  theophany  remain  as  fixed  elements.  He 
"that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,"  the  Lamb,  the  elders,  and  the  living  creatures,  from 
time  to  time  re-appear,  as  if  to  remind  us  how  this  fact  of  the  Kingdom  of  God — the 
reign  in  righteousness  of  the  Righteous  King — is  to  be  everywhere  kept  in  view. 

In  so  far  as  the  origin  of  this  Kingdom  concerns  Christianity,  it  is  brought  to  view 
at  three  points  in  the  succession  of  the  visions  :  (1)  In  the  opening  of  the  first  seal 
(ch.  6:1,2);  (2)  in  the  sounding  of  the  first  trumpet  (ch.  8:7);  (3)  in  the  appearance 
of  the  woman,  "clothed  with  the  sun,  and  the  moon  under  her  feet,  and  upon  her  head 
a  crown  of  twelve  stars"  (ch.  12  :  1,  2).  In  the  first  of  these,  the  Kingdom  of  God,  or 
Christianity,  is  seen  in  its  opening,  triumphant  era  ;  in  the  second,  those  providences  are 
indicatcil  wliich  signalized  that  era,  more  especially  in  the  dispersion  of  the  Jewish 
nation,  the  destruction  of  their  city,  and  the  passing  away  of  the  former  Dispensation  ; 
in  the  third,  we  have  presented  the  incarnation,  the  birth  of  the  man-child,  in  whom, 
as  "ruling  the  nations,"  the  might  and  the  dominion  under  this  new  order  should 
centre,  and  by  hiiii  in  subsequent  history  be  exercised. 

n.  Next  is  the  ordml  Like  everything  else  in  this  world,  the  Kingdom  of  God 
must  liav(!  its  ordeal,  and  demonstrate  its  right  of  recognition  in  all  that  it  claims  to  be. 
The  ordeal,  in  this  case,  embraces  centuries,  and  is  fierce  and  testing  beyond  all  previous 
example.  The  experiences  of  ancient  Israel  in  Egypt  and  in  the  wilderness  were  but  a 
shadow  of  those  which  were  to  be  the  lot  of  the  anti-typical  Israel,  the  church  of  the 
liord  Jesus,  in  the  centuries  of  its  own  hot  ordeal.  This  ordeal  is  set  forth  in  throe  ways  : 
(1)  Under  the  second,  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  seals,  the  special  features  being  the  out- 
break of  I'agan  hostility  (the  second  seal,  ch.  6  :  4),  the  mischiefs  of  the  Antichristian 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION.  21 


Apostasy  (third  seal,  C  :  5),  and  persecution  in  its  Pagan  form  (fourth  and  fifth  seals,  6  : 
7-10) ;  the  whole  ending  in  the  fall  of  Paganism,  and  its  burial  under  the  ruins  of  the 
Roman  Empire  itself  (sixth  seal,  6  :  12-17).  (2)  Under  the  trumpets,  which  bring  to 
view  events  occurring  upon  a  wide  theatre,  and  exhibiting  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  respect 
to  what  is  more  exterior,  and  concerned  more  with  its  general  fortunes  :  the  first 
trumpet  exhibiting  under  striking  imagery  the  providential  events  which  signalized  the 
beginning  of  this  long  history  (ch.  8:7);  the  second  trumpet,  the  fall  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  with  its  consequences  as  affecting  the  national  life  of  Christendom  (ch.  8  :  8,  9) ; 
the  third  and  fourth,  those  effects  of  the  Apostasj^  which  were  seen  in  the  general  condition 
of  nominal  Christendom,  especially  in  the  failure  of  Christian  knowledge,  and  the  preva- 
lence of  false  teaching,  with  its  consequent  ignorance  and  superstition  (ch.  8  :  10-12);  the 
fifth,  the  opening  of  the  abyss  and  the  issuing  forth  of  Satanic  influence  and  agency, 
filling  Christendom  with  violence,  crime,  and  misery — the  terrible  centuries  of  the  Dark 
Ages  (ch.  9  :  1-12)  ;  and  the  sixth,  the  prevalence  of  desolating  wars,  more  especially 
the  assault  upon  apostolic  Christendom  by  the  Saracens.  (3)  Antichrist  in  his  mani- 
festation as  the  wild  beast  out  of  the  sea,  or  the  hostile  world-power,  imperial  and  other, 
in  all  ages  (ch.  13  :  I-IO) ;  and  the  wild  beast  out  of  the  earth,  corrupt  and  oppressive 
ecclesiasticism  (ch.  13  :  11-18),  known  also  as  the  false  prophet — false  teaching  in  religion 
and  the  various  forms  of  infidelity,  having,  more  or  less,  their  root  in  such  teachings,  or 
taking  occasion  from  it  to  "deceive  the  nations."  In  all  these  forms  the  ordeal  is 
exhibited  under  imagery  intense  and  vivid  to  the  last  degree.  The  tenth  and  eleventh 
chapters  are  interposed  with  a  view  to  show  how  in  the  midst  of  all  God  preserves  to 
himself  a  "  remnant,"  a  "church  in  the  wilderness,"  a  seed  for  the  harvest  of  a  better 
era.     A  like  truth  is  symbolized  in  the  sealing  of  the  servants  of  God. 

III.  This  better  era  appears  to  be  signalized  by  the  appearance  of  the  strong  angel 
coming  down  out  of  heaven,  clothed  with  a  cloud,  a  rainbow  upon  his  head,  his  face 
shining  as  the  sun,  and  his  feet  as  pillars  of  fire  (ch.  10  :  1,  2).  He  holds  in  his  hand  a 
little  book,  open,  the  symbol  of  a  restored  gospel  and  of  a  rapidly  approaching  consum- 
mation. He  announces  the  speedy  sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet,  and  the  finishing 
of  the  mystery  of  God — the  fulfillment  of  prophecy  and  promise  in  respect  to  ultimate 
victories  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Like  things  are  signalized  by  the  resurrection  of  the 
slain  witnesses  (ch.  11  :  11-13),  and  their  ascension  into  heaven;  also  by  the  angel  flying 
in  the  midst  of  heaven,  having  the  everlasting  gospel  to  preach  to  the  whole  world 
(ch.  14:  6-7),  by  the  proclamation  of  the  fall  of  Babylon,  and  by  the  choruses  of 
heavenly  praise  (ch.  11-15-18;  15:  3,  4). 

IV.  The  fourth  general  division  is  that  of  the  consummation.  It  is  heralded  by 
the  outpouring  of  the  vials,  with  "the  seven  last  plagues"  ;  by  the  fall  of  Babj'lon,  or 
the  Papal  Antichrist ;  the  Beast,  or  Antichrist  in  its  manifestation  as  a  hostile  world- 
power  ;  and  the  False  Prophet,  or  falsehood  and  deception,  misleading  and  ruining  the 
souls  of  men.  Then  comes  the  binding  of  the  Dragon,  or  Satan  (eh.-  20  :  1-3),  the  full 
establishment  of  the  Kingdom  during  the  millennial  period  (ch.  20  :  4) ;  to  be  followed, 
at  the  end  of  the  thousand  years,  by  the  ultimate  victory  over  Satan  and  his  host,  the 
coming  of  the  Son  of  man,  the  great  wnite  throne,  the  general  resurrection,  the  final 
judgment,  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth. 

We  offer  this  as  what  seems  to  us  an  analysis  of  the  contents  of  this  difficult  book, 
which  may  afford  some  general  idea  of  the  arrangement  into  which,  upon  careful  study, 
its  several  parts  appear  to  fall. 


22  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION. 

X.  ANALYSIS  OF  CONTENTS  BY  CHAPTERS. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Ver.  1-3.  The  Prologue. 

Ver.  4-8.  The  Salutation. 

Ver.  9-20.  The  Vision  of  the  Lord. 

CHAPTER  II. 

EPISTLES  TO  THE  CHURCHES. 

1.  To  the  Church  in  Ephesns. 

Ver.  1.  Inscription. 

Ver.  2,  3.  Commendation. 

Ver.  4-6.  Reproof  and  Admonition. 

Ver.  7.     Promise  and  Encouragement. 

2.  To  the  Chtirch  in  Smyrna. 

Ver.  8.  Inscription. 

Ver.  9,  10.  Commendation  and  Assurance. 

Ver.  11.  Promise. 

3.  To  the  Church  in  Pergamos. 

Ver.  12.  Inscription. 

Ver.  13.  Commendation. 

Ver.  14-16.  Reproof  and  Warning. 

Ver.  17.  Promise. 

4.  To  the  Church  in  Thyatira. 

Ver.  18.  Inscription. 

Ver.  19.  Commendation. 

Ver.  20-23.  Reproof  and  Threatening. 

Ver.  24-29.  Promise. 

CHAPTER  III. 

EPISTLES  TO  THE  CHURCHES   (CONTINUED). 

5.  To  the  Church  in  Sardis. 

Ver.  1.  In.scription. 
Ver.  1-3.  Admonition. 
Ver.  4-6.  Promise. 

6.  To  the  Church  in  Philadelphia. 

Ver.  7.  Inscription. 

Ver.  8-13.  Commendation  and  Promise. 

7.  To  the  Church  in  Laodicea. 

Ver.  14.  In.scription. 
Ver.  ]r>-][).  Admonition. 
Ver.  20-22.   Promise. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION.  23 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    THEOPHANY. 

Ver.  1-3.  The  Vision  of  God. 

Ver.  4.  The  Four  and  Twenty  Elders — Representing  the  Kingdom  of  God  as 
(1)  Judaic  ;    (2)  Christian. 

Ver.  5.  The  Throne  and  the  Lamps  of  Fire. 

Ver.  6-8.  The  Crystal  Sea  and  the  Four  Living  Creatures — Representing  (1) 
Righteousness  and  Purity  of  the  Divine  Government ;  (2)  its  Comprehension  of  the 
Sentient  Creation. 

Ver.  8-11.  Worship  of  the  Creatures  and  the  Redeemed. 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  SEALED   BOOK. 

Ver.  1-4.  The  Book— Who  is  Worthy  to  Open  It  ? 

Ver.  5-7.  The  Lamb  in  the  Midst  of  the  Throne. 

Ver.  8-10.  The  New  Song. 

Ver.  11-14.  The  Angelic  Response  and  the  Chorus  of  Creation. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

OPENING  OP  THE  SEALS. 

Ver.  1-8.  The  First  Four  Seals. 

(1)  The  White  Horse  and  its  Rider — Opening  Era  of  Christianity. 

(2)  The  Red  Horse  and  Rider — Outbreak  of  Opposition  and  Violence. 

(3)  The  Black  Horse  and  Rider— Famine  of  the  Word. 

(4)  The  Pale  Horse  and  Rider — Persecution. 

Ver.  9-11.  The  Fifth  Seal— The  Souls  Under  the  Altar;  Delay  of  Providential 
Vindication  Symbolized. 

Ver.  12-17.  The  Sixth  Seal — ^The  Great  Earthquake;  National  Convulsion,  with 
Dismay  of  Rulers  and  People. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

SEALING   OF  THE  SERVANTS   OF  GOD. 

Ver.  1.  The  Angels  of  the  Winds. — Symbols  of  God's  Restraining  Providence.     '■ 
Ver.  2,  3.  Another  Angel,  Having  the  Seal  of  the  Living  God.     The  Sealing  a 
Sign  of  Preservation  Amidst  the  Ordeal. 
Ver.  4-8.  The  Number  of  the  Sealed. 
Ver.  9-17.  The  Great  Multitude  and  their  Chorus  of  Praise. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  SEVENTH  SEAL  AND  THE  FIRST  POUR  TRUMPETS. 

Ver.  1.   Opening  of  the  Seventh  Seal. 

Ver.  2-6.  The  Trumpet  Angels — Fire  from  the  Altar  of  Incense  Cast  into  the  Earth. 

Ver.  7.  The  First  Trumpet  Sounds — Hail  and  Fire  Mingled  with  Blood  ;  Providential 
Portents  at  the  Opening  of  the  Christian  Dispensation. 

Ver.  8,  9.  The  Second  Trumpet  Sounds — A  Burning  Mountain  Cast  into  the  Sea; 
Overthrow  of  Pagan  Imperialism. 

Ver.  10,  11.  The  Third  Trumpet  Sounds— The  Falling  Star ;  Christian  Apostasy. 


24  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION. 

Ver.  12.  The  Fourth  Trumpet  Sounds — The  Sun  and  Stars  Darkened  ;  Results  of  the 
Apostasy  in  False  Teaching  and  Hierarchical  Usurpation. 
Ver.  13.  The  Three  Woe-Trumpets  Announced. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

TirE    FIFTH   AND    SIXTH   TRUMPETS. 

Ver.  1-12.  The  Fifth  Trumpet  Sounds— The  Angel  of  the  Pit,  Satan;  Locusts  Out 
of  the  Pit — Satanic  Influence  and  Agencj'. 

Ver.  13-21.  The  Sixth  Trumpet  Sounds — The  Four  Euphrates  Angels  Loosed; 
Armies  of  Horsemen,  Destructive  Wars  in  Punishment  of  Apostasy. 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE  STRONG  ANGEL  AND  THE  LITTLE  BOOK. 

Ver.  1-7.  The  Angel — Angel  of  the  Covenant. 

Ver.  8-11.  The  Little  Book.    A  Recovered  Grospel,  Prophecy  of  the  Consummation. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  TWO   WITNESSES   AND  THE   SEVENTH  TRUMPET. 

Ver.  1,  2.   Measurement  of  the  Temple — ^The  True  Church,  Separate  and  Safe. 

Ver.  3-13.  The  Two  Witnesses — Adequate  Christian  Testimony  in  Time  of  Per- 
secution. 

Ver.  14-19.  The  Seventh  Trumpet  Sounds— End  of  the  Ordeal-  Era  of  Gospel 
Progress  and  Triumph. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  CHURCH   IN  THE  WILDERNESS. 
The  Vision  Reverts  to  ""The  Beginning  of  the  Gospel^ 
Ver.  1-6.  The  Woman  and  the  Dragon. — The  Church  as  Mother  of  the  Man-child  ; 
Satan  as  the  Dragon,  Persecution  of  the  Church. 

Ver.  7-12.  Michael  and  the  Dragon. — War  in  Heaven ;  Symbolizing  the  Victories 
of  Redemption. 

Ver.  13-17.  The  Flight  of  the  Woman— Wilderness  State  of  the  True  Church. 

EXCURSUS  A— THE  FORTY-TWO  MONTHS  AND  THE  TWELVE  HUNDRED 

AND  SIXTY  DAYS. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

REVELATION    OF   ANTICHRIST. 

Ver.  1-10.  The  Wild  Beast  Out  of  the  Sea— Antichrist  as  a  Hostile  World-Power. 
Ver.  11-18.  The  Wild  Beast  Out  of  the  Earth— Antichrist  as  Corrupt  and  Oppres- 
sive Ecclesiasticism. 

EXCURSUS  B.— ANTICHRIST 
CHAPTER  XIV. 

VICTORIES   OP  REDEMPTION   ANTICIPATED. 

Ver.  1-5.  The  Lamb  on  Mount  Zion.  With  Him  the  Redeemed  Multitude.  Result 
of  the  Pending  Conflict  Anticipated. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION.  25 

Ver.  6-12.  Angelic  Proclamations.  The  Gospel  Angel  Fljang  in  jMid-Heaven.  The 
"  Second  Angel ' '  Announcing  the  Fall  of  Babylon.  The  ' '  Third  Angel ' '  Proclaiming  the 
Doom  of  the  Adherents  of  Antichrist. 

Ver.  13.  A  Voice  from  Heaven.     The  Blessed  Dead. 

Ver.  14-20.  The  Harvest  and  the  Vintage. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  SEA  OF  GLASS  AND  THE  SEVEN  LASP  PLAGUES. 

Ver.  1-4.  The  Sea  of  Glass,  the  Redeemed  Company,  and  the  New  Song. 

Ver.  5-8.  The  Angels  of  the  Vials — Ministers  of  Judgment  in  the  World's  Last  Ages. 

EXCURSUS  C— THE  VIALS. 
CHAPTER  XVI. 

POURING   OUT  OF  THE  VIALS. 

Ver.  1,  2.  The  Fourth  Vial  Poured  Out  into  the  Earth — God's  Judgment  upon 
Corrupt  Ecclesiasticism. 

Ver.  3.  The  Second  Vial  Poured  Out  into  the  Sea — God's  Judgment  upon  Corrupt 
and  Hostile  Nationalities. 

Ver.  4-7.  The  Third  Vial  Poured  into  the  Rivers  and  Fountains — Corruption  of  the 
Sources  of  Intellectual,  Moral,  and  National  Life — Depraved  Tendencies  and  Effects 
Overruled  as  Punishment. 

Ver.  8,  9.  The  Fourth  Vial  Poured  upon  the  Sun — Perversions  of  Revealed  Truth 
through  Fanaticism  and  Infidelity. 

Ver.  10,  11.  The  Fifth  Vial  Poured  upon  the  Seat  of  the  Beast — Visitations  upon 
Antichrist. 

Ver.  12-16.  The  Sixth  Vial  Poured  upon  the  River  Euphrates.  Hostile  Influences 
Let  Loose.     Unclean  Spirits  of  Antichristian  Malice. 

Ver.  17-21.  The  Seventh  Vial  Poured  into  the  Air — Confusions  and  Tumults  of  tke 
Last  Times. 

EXCURSUS  D.— THE  BATTLE  OF  ARMAGEDDON. 
CHAPTER  XVII. 

MYSTICAL     BABYLON. 

Ver.  1-7.  The  Woman  and  the  Beast — Apostate  Christianity  Sustained  by  Aiiti- 
christian  Powers. 

Ver.  8-18.  Angelic  Exposition  of  the  Vision. 

CHAPTER  XVIIL 

Babylon's  fall. 
Ver.  1-3.  Angelic  Proclamation — Babj'lon's  Doom  Announced. 
Ver.  4-8.  The  Voice  from  Heaven — "  Come  out  of  Her,  0  niy  People." 
Ver.  9,  10.  Lament  of  the  Kings. 
Ver.  11-16.   Lament  of  the  Merchants. 
Ver.  17-19.  Lament  of  the  Shipmasters. 


25  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  REVELATION. 


Ver.  21-24.  The  Stone  Cast  into  the  Sea— "Thus  with  Violence  shall  that  Great 
City  Babylon  be  Thrown  Down.' ' 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  HEAVENLY  TRIUMPH. 

Ver.  1-4.  A  Song  of  DeUverance — Celebrating  the  Judgment  of  Babylon. 

Ver.  5-10.  A  Heavenly  Chorus.  All  the  Servants  of  God,  Angels  and  Redeemed 
Spirits,  Rejoice  in  his  Righteous  Sovereignty.  They  Welcome  the  Marriage  of  the 
Lamb. 

Ver.  11-16.  The  Conquering  AVord.     Consummating  Triumph  of  the  Gospel. 

Ver.  17-21.  Final  Doom  of  Antichrist. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

MILLENNIUM  AND  FINAL  JUDGMENT. 

Ver.  1-3.  The  Binding  of  the  Dragon — Satan  and  Satanic  Agency  Omnipotently 
Restrained. 

Ver.  4.  The  Millennial  Reign.  The  Kingdom  of  God  in  its  Consummation  of  Power 
and  Blessing. 

EXCURSUS  E.— I.   THE  FIRST  RESURRECTION.     II.   THE  MILLENNIUM. 

Ver.  7-10.  The  Loosing  of  Satan  and  the  Final  Overthrow. 
Ver.  11-15.  General  Resurrection  and  Last  Judgment. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

ALL  THINGS  NEW. 

Ver.  1.  The  New  Heaven  and  New  Earth. 

Ver.  2-4.  New  Jerusalem.     The  Tabernacle  of  God  with  Men. 

Ver.  5-8.  The  Life  Eternal  and  the  Second  Death. 

Ver.  9-27.  The  Holy  City  Described. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

PARADISE    RESTORED. 

Ver.  1,  2.  The  River  and  the  Tree  of  Life. 

Ver.  3-5.  Security  and  Felicity. 

Ver.  6-20.  The  Epilogue. 

Ver.  21.   "  The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  you  all.     Amen." 

EXCUR^rS  F.-THE  COMING  OF  THE  LORD. 


THE 


REVELATION  OF  ST.  JOHN  THE  DIVINE. 


CHAPTER    I. 


THE  Revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  "which  God  gave 
unto  him,  to  shew  unto  his  servants  things  whicli 
*niust  shortly  come  to  pass;  and  "he  sent  and  signided 
it  by  his  angel  unto  his  servant  John : 

2  ''Who  bare  record  of  the  word  of  God,  and  of  the 
testimony  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  all  things  'that  he 
saw. 

3  /Blessed  is  he  that  readeth,  and  they  that  hear  the 
words  of  this  prophecy,  and  keep  those  things  which 
are  written  therein:  for  » the  time  is  at  hand. 


1  The  Revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  God  igave 
hiju  to  shew  unto  his  ^servants,  even  the  things  which 
must  shortly  come  to  pass:  and  he  sent  and  signified 

2  '■^it  by  his  angel  unto  his  servant  John  ;  who  bare  wit- 
ness of  the  word  of  God,  and  of  the  testimony  of 

3  Jesus  Christ,  seen  of  all  things  that  he  saw.  Blessed 
is  he  that  readeth,  and  they  that  hear  the  words  of 
the  prophecy,  and  keep  the  things  which  are  written 
therein  :  for  the  time  is  at  hand. 


a  John  3:  3-2:  8:26;  I'i  :  49 »  ver.  :i;  oh.  4:  1....C  ch.  22:  16.... dl  Cor.  1:6;  vei-.  9  ;  ch.  6  :  9;  12  :  17...  .e  I  John  1  :  l..../Liilie 

11:  28;  ch.  22:  7 g  Rom. 13:11;   James  5:8;   1  Pet.  4:  7;   ch.  22:  10. 1.  Or,  gave  unto  Mm,  to  shew  unto  his  servants  the 

things,  etc 2  Gi'.  bondservants :  and  so  throughout  this  book 3  Or,  them. 


Ch.  1 :  1-3.  The  Prologue. 

1.  Revelation.  The  word  implies  that  the 
book  which  opens  thus  is  to  have  a  special 
character.  As  already  pointed  out  in  the 
Introduction,  it  implies  that  the  contents  of 
the  book  are  to  be  more  than  simply  inspired 
teaching;  they  are  prop hecy,  and  more  even 
than  in  the  general  sense  prophetic,  for  they 
are  apocalyptic.  They  are  an  "uncovering" 
(a7roicaAui/(is)  of  things  hidden.  Of  Jesus 
Christ.  The  form  of  the  expression  may  im- 
ply, either  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Revealer, 
or  that  he  is  the  subject  of  the  Revelation. 
The  words  following,  Avhich  God  gave  unto 
him,  seem  to  make  it  clear  that  we  are  to  view 
Jesus  Christ  as  revealing,  and  as  revealed 
only  in  a  remoter  sense  of  the  phrase,  if  at 
all.  The  things  here  to  be  made  known  are 
given  to  him  of  God,  and  by  him  so  commu- 
nicated, as  to  show  unto  his  servants 
things  which  must  shortly  come  to  pass. 
By  "servants"  must  be  meant  all  followers  of 
Christ,  and  students  of  his  word.  Perhaps  the 
term  used  implies  something  as  to  the  temper 
in  which  those  to  whom  the  things  herein  con- 
tained shall  be  effectually  disclosed,  must  be 
found;  not  a  captiously  critical  temper,  least 
of  all  one  of  hostility  to  the  great  aims  and 
methods  of  Christ's  spiritual  kingdom;  but 
one  in  which  he  is  acknowledged  as  supreme 
Lord,  and  in  which  there  shall  be  loyal  and 
fervent  sympathy  with  him  in  all  that  he  pur- 
poses, all  that  he  claims,  and  all  that  he  does. 
^The  things  revealed  must  shortly  come  to 
pass,  because  made  necessary  by  the  will  and 
purpose  of  the  divine  mind;  and  "shortly," 
inasmuch  as  it  is  the  very  aim  of  the  book  to 
exhibit,  in  apocalyptic  vision  and  symbol,  the 
future  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  its  relation 


to  worldly  history,  beginning  with  the  very 
period  itself  to  which  the  writer  of  the  book 
belongs.  And  he  sent  and  signified  it  by 
his  angel.  An  angelus  interpres,  "inter- 
preting angel,"  is  supposed  by  some  to  be 
meant.  Of  this  we  have  more  to  say  further 
on. — Unto  his  servant  John.  He  here  indi- 
cates himself  by  the  phrase  so  often  used  by 
his   fellow-apostles,     "the   servant   of    Jesus 

Christ   '   (tu)  SouAu  'I>)(rou  XptffToO). 

2.  Who  bare  record  of  the  word  of 
God,  and  of  the  testimony  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  of  all  things  that  [lit.  as  many 
things  as]  he  saw.  The  rendering  in  the  re- 
vised version  gives  a  true  sense,  although  less 
literal  than  the  one  in  brackets,  above.  Stuart 
labors  quite  unnecessarily  to  .so  connect  the 
clauses  as  to  make  it  appear  that  the  reference 
thoughout  this  second  verse  is  to  former  writ- 
ngs  of  this  apostle,  and  thus  to  find  in  the 
words  additional  proof  that  the  writer  of  the 
Apocalypse  was  the  same  as  the  writer  of  the 
Fourth  Gospel.  Alford  very  justly  argues 
that  the  words  "as  many  things  as  he  saw," 
cannot  be  understood  of  the  contents  of  the 
Gospel;  for  John  there  expressly  says  that 
he  wrote  only  a  small  part  of  the  things  of 
which  he  had  knowledge,  as  connected  with 
the  life  and  teachings  of  the  Lord. 

3.  Blessed  is  he  that  readeth.  Many 
expositors  take  this  as  an  allusion  to  the  cus- 
tom then  necessary,  of  assigning  to  a  particu- 
lar person  the  reading  of  the  Scripture  in 
connection  with  Christian  worship.  A  very 
ancient  writer  on  this  book,  Victorinus,  near 
the  end  of  the  third  century,  makes  no 
mention  of  such  an  interpretation,  as  it  would 
have  seemed  natural  for  one  to  do,  living  at 
the  time  when  the    custom  alluded   to  waa 

27 


28 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  L   f 


probably  still  in  use.  He  takes  the  word 
"readeth"  in  the  ordinary  sense,  as  meaning 
any  one  who  reads.  This  seems  the  more 
probable  exposition.— And  they  that  hear. 
Even  the  hearing  of  the  message  may  bring 
a  blessing  with  it.— And  keep  those  things 
which  are  written  therein.  Plainly  show- 
ing that  "how"  they  "hear,"  will  determine 
the  nature  and  measure  of  the  blessing.— For 
the  time  is  at  hand.  A  general  intimation 
that  the  things  made  known  will  be  to  each 
reader  and  hearer  of  immediate  importance; 
not  things  to  be  left  apart  among  the  various 
subjects  of  Christian  study,  as  concerning  only 
those  who  may  live  in  some  far  future  age; 
but  as  in  such  a  way  related,  even  in  point  of 
time,  to  each  Christian  student,  in  whatever 
age  he  may  live,  as  to  demand  of  him  earnest 
and  heedful  attention. 

GENERAL   COMMENTS'. 

That  this  book  is  a  "Revelation"  does  not 
imply  that  it  is  easily,  or  immediately  to  be 
understood.  While  it  is  a  disclosure  of  divine 
purpose  with  reference  to  future  things,  noth- 
ing is  necessarily  to  be  hence  inferred  as  to 
the  nature,  or  method,  or  measure  of  this  dis- 
closure; which  may  be  such,  and  in  the  pres- 
ent case  is  such,  as  to  ta.x  the  patient  industry 
of  the  student,  and  to  require  of  him  that  he 
shall  not  be  in  too  much  haste  to  "know  the 
times  and  the  seasons,"  especially. 

The  nature  of  the  divine  Sonship  is  to  us 
inscrutable;  only  the  fact  of  it  is  revealed. 
The  Son  is  known  to  us  alone  in  his  human 
manifestation  as  the  Son  of  man,  while  yet 
the  Son  of  God.  As  a  man,  Jesus  had  divine 
knowledge  only  through  the  union  of  his 
divinity,  as  the  Son,  with  the  Father.  To 
say  of  anything,  therefore,  that  it  is  what  the 
Father  only  knows,  is  equivalent  to  saying 
that  it  belongs  to  the  sphere  of  divine  knowl- 
edge, not  that  of  human  or  angelic  knowl- 
edge. Jesus,  we  find,  is  often  spoken  of, 
and  often  speaks  of  himself  as  he  was  in 
liis  human  manifestation.  As  one  with  the 
Father,  and  divine,  he  had  knowledge  of 
these  things  "  which  God  gave  unto  him," 
of  himself;  as  the  Mediator,  as  the  man 
Christ  Jesus,  his  ac<iuaintance  with  them 
came  from  the  fullnc^ss  of  that  divine  knowl- 
edge, and  so  it  is  spoken  of  as  that  which 
God  gave  unto  him. 

Alford   regards   the   expression   "shortly" 


{iv  Tox«i)  as  "a  prophetic  formula,  conunon 
with  him  to  whom  a  thousand  j'ears  are  as 
one  day,  and  used  to  teach  us  how  short  our 
time,  and  the  time  of  this  our  world  is." 
Hengstenberg  says  of  the  phrase,  connecting 
it  with  the  similar  one  in  ver.  3:  "These  dec- 
larations are  opposed  to  the  view  of  those  who 
would  convert  the  entire  book  into  a  history 
of  the  time  of  the  end,  and  confirm  the  view 
which  treats  it  as  our  companion  through  the 
whole  course  of  history." 

There  are  indications  of  angelic  presence 
and  ministry  at  various  points  in  the  course 
of  these  communications.  At  ver.  10,  in  this 
chapter,  the  voice  which  John  hears,  "as  of 
a  trumpet,"  seems  to  be  that  of  an  angel.  As 
is  shown  further  on,  the  words:  "I  am  Alpha 
and  Omega,"  etc.,  at  the  beginning  of  ver.  11, 
must  be  omitted,  because  not  found  in  the 
oldest  manuscripts.  AVhat  is  said,  therefore, 
is  not  the  announcement  of  the  dignity  and 
titles  of  the  person  speaking,  but  simply  a 
call  to  attention,  and  a  direction  to  write  the 
vision  about  to  be  seen,  and  send  it  to  the 
churches.  It  is  in  tone  as  the  sound  "of  a 
trumpet,"  while  the  voice  of  him  whom  John 
perceives,  as  he  turns,  standing  in  the  midst 
of  the  golden  candlesticks,  is  "as  the  sound 
of  many  waters"  (ver.  15).  The  indications 
are  that  these  are  distinct  voices:  the  one  of 
the  angel  who  (as  some  think)  is  the  seer's  at- 
tendant, more  or  less,  through  all  the  visions; 
the  other  that  of  the  Lord  himself.  The  an- 
gel-voice "as  it  were  of  a  trumpet"  is  heard 
again  (ch.  4:i)  at  the  opening  of  the  new  series 
of  visions  following  the  present  one.  There, 
also,  it  seems  to  be,  not  the  voice  of  the  Lord 
himself,  but  of  the  same  angelic  being  per- 
haps as  is  mentioned  in  the  clause  noted 
above,  "sent  and  signified  it  by  his  angel 
unto  his  servant  John."  Like  allusions  are 
found  at  19:  10,  and  at  22:  8,  9. 

As  suggested  in  the  exposition,  the  phrase, 
"his  servant  John,"  is  apostolic.  "  Paul,  a 
servant  of  Jesus  Christ"  (R"m.i:i);  "James,  a 
servant  of  God,  and  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ" 
(jiimesi:  i);  "Jude,  the  scrvaut  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  brother  of  James"  (Judei).  A  reason  is 
here  suggested  for  that  view  of  the  author.ship 
of  the  book  which  ascribes  it  to  the  apostle 
John.  "  The  word  of  God "  and  "  the 
testimony  of  Jesus  Christ,"  must  be  taken 
as  referring  to  the  conti-nts  of  the  Revelation, 
and  not  to  any  former  writing  of  the  same 


Ch.  I.] 


REVELATIOK 


.29 


4  John  to  the  seven  churches  which  are  in  Asia:  Grace 
be  unto  you,  and  peace,  from  him  »  wliicli  is,  and  ''which 
was,  and  which  is  to  come;  ■'and  from  the  seven  Spirits 
which  are  before  liis  tlirone; 

5  And  from  Jesus  Christ,  <iwho  is  the  faithful  witness, 
and  the  "first  begotten  of  the  dead,  and  /the  prince  of 
the  liings  of  the  earth.  Unto  him  »that  loved  us,  ''and 
washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood, 


4  John  to  the  seven  churches  which  are  in  Asia: 
Grace  to  you  and  peace,  from  him  who  is  and  wlio 
was  and  i  who  is  to  come ;  and  from  the  seven  Spirits 

5  that  are  before  his  throne;  and  from  Jesus  Christ, 
who  is  the  faithful  witness,  the  firstborn  of  the  dead, 
and  the  ruler  of  the  kings  of  the  earth.  Unto  him 
that  loveth  us,  and  ^loosed  us  from  our  sins  <iby  his 


a  Exort.  3:  14;  ver.  8 6  John  1:1 c  Zech.  3:9;  4:  10;  ch. 3:1;    4:5;  5: 

15:  20;  Col.  1:  18.  ...y'Ephes.'l :  20;  ch.  17  :  14  ;  19:  16.... jr  John  13:  34;    15  :  ! 
who  Cometh 2  Many  authoiities,  some  ancient,  ; 


>....(*  John  8:  14:  1  Tim.  6:  i:{;  oh.  3:  14.... e  1  Cor 

;  Gal.  2:  20....ftHeb.  9:   14;    1  John  1 :  7. 1  Or 

ead  washed 3  Gr.  in. 


apostle.  They  are  "the  word  of  God"  as  hav- 
ing been  given  by  him  in  the  manner  stated 
in  ver.  1,  as  also  in  the  general  sense  in  which 
this  phrase  is  so  often  used  in  the  Scriptures ; 
and  they  are  "the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ," 
not  alone  because,  receiving  this  "  word"  from 
the  Father,  he  gives  it  to  his  "servants,"  but 
also  for  the  reason  that  the  truth  of  it  is 
pledged  by  the  fact  that  it  is  thus  communi- 
cated. He  is  "the  faithful  and  true  witness." 
The  divine  source  of  the  message  is  made  cer- 
tain by  the  fact  of  his  personal  activity  in  its 
communication,  which  fact  is  itself  made  cer- 
tain by  his  personal  appearance,  as  described 
in  subsequent  verses  of  this  chapter.  We  know 
that  in  receiving  what  is  here  declared,  we 
are  receiving  no  "cunningly  devised  fables," 
but  the  word  of  the  very  "  Lord  from  heaven." 
The  post  filled  by  the  reader  in  the  Chris- 
tian churches  of  primitive  times,  was  no  doubt 
far  more  important  when  copies  of  the  Scrip- 
tures were  so  much  more  rare  than  now, 
when  they  are  found  everywhere,  especially 
in  Christian  families.  Even,  however,  if  some 
reference  to  this  custom  is  to  be  understood  in 
the  benediction  upon  them  that  read  and 
them  that  hear  the  sajnngs  of  this  book,  the 
application  of  the  words  should  not  be  so 
limited  as  to  make  them  purely  an  allusion  to 
the  custom  in  question.  Their  broader  sig- 
nificance is  that  of  a  benediction  upon  those 
who,  at  any  time,  in  any  way,  either  them- 
selves personally  should  come  to  know  these 
things  "and  keep"  them,  or  with  like  effect- 
ualness  bring  them  to  the  knowledge  of 
others. 

4-8.  The  Salutation. 

4.  John  to  the  Seven  Churches  which 
are  in  Asia.  The  names  of  the  churches, 
given  below,  suflSciently  indicate  their  local- 
ity. The  designation,  Asia,  is  to  be  understood 
of  what  was  really  only  a  section  of  that  part 
of  the  continent  known  as  Asia  Minor.  It 
included  the  provinces  of  Phrygia,  Mysia, 


Lydia,  Caria,  and  the  islands  in  the  adjacent 
-^gean  Sea.  These  districts  constituted  a 
Roman  province,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a 
proconsul,  to  which  the  name  Asia  was  given. 
— Grace  be  unto  you,  and  peace.  The 
salutation  is  apostolic,  and  quite  consi.stent 
with  the  accepted  theory  as  to  the  authorship 
of  the  book. — From  him  which  [whoj  is, 
and  which  [who]  was,  and  which  [who]  is 
to  come.  The  last  part  of  this  clause  should 
not  be  viewed  as  implying  any  allusion  to  the 
anticipated  second  coming  of  the  Lord.  Taken 
with  what  immediately  precedes,  it  is  simply  a 
paraphrase  of  that  venerable  Divine  Name 
revealed  to  JMoses  (Exod.  3:i4),  and  which  so  sub- 
limely announces  the  essential  Being  of  the 
Eternal  God. — And  from  the  seven  spirits 
which  are  before  the  [his]  throne.  This 
seems  to  be  an  anticipatory  allusion  to  what 
appears  in  ch.  4:  5,  where  mention  is  made 
of  "seven  lamps  of  fire  burning  before  the 
throne,  which  are  the  seven  spirits  of  God." 
In  that  place  the  symbolism  presents  the 
Divine  Spirit  himself;  the  "fire"  indicating 
him  in  those  offices  of  his  ministry  elsewhere 
mentioned  (Matt.  3:11),  and  the  number  "seven," 
as  in  so  many  other  places,  implying  perfec- 
tion. "With  that  sublime  theophany  now  in 
mind,  as  he  salutes  his  brethren  in  the  apos- 
tolical benediction,  John  uses  a  form  of  desig- 
nation for  the  Third  Person  in  the  adorable 
Trinity,  suggested  by  the  vision  he  is  soon  to 
relate. 

5.  And  from  Jesus  Christ.  The  Son  is 
named  last,  and  as  he  is  in  his  form  as  the 
Word  made  flesh,  perhaps  for  the  sake  of 
closer  connection  with  the  following  clauses, 
in  which  he  is  set  forth  in  those  characters 
and  offices  which  make  his  person  so  pecu- 
liarly dear  to  faith.— The  faithful  wit- 
ness—  trustworthy  —  worthy  to  be  believed. 
The  insertion  of  "wAo  is"  supplied  by  the 
translators,  makes  the  connection  more  clear. 
In  his  Gospel,  John  had  already  recorded 
those   words  of   Jesus   (John  is:  37):   "For   this 


30 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  I. 


6  And  hath  ■>  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God  and 
his  Father;  Ho  him  be  glory  aud  dominion  for  ever  and 
ever.     Amen. 

7  "Behold,  he  cometh  with  clouds;  and  every  eye 
shall  we  him,  and  Jlhcva/.w/  which  pierced  him:  and 
all  kindreds  of  the  earth  shall  wail  because  ot  him. 
Kveu  so.    Amen. 


6  blood;  and  he  made  us  to  he  a  kingdom,  to  he  priests 
unto  ihis  God  and  Father;  to  him  he  the  glory  and 

7  the  dominion  2  lor  ever  and  ever.  Amen.  Behold,  he 
cometh  with  the  clouds;  and  every  eye  shall  see  him, 
and  they  who  pierced  him  ;  and  all  the  tribes  of  the 
earth  sliall  mourn  over  him.    Even  so,  Amen. 


olPei  2-5  9-  ch   5-  10;  20:  6.... i.  1  Tim.  6 :  16;  Heb.  13:21;  IPet.  4:  11;  5:  11.... c  Dan.  7 :  13;  Miitt.  24:  30;  26:64;  Acta  1:  11. 
d  Zech.  12:  10 ;  John  19 :  :17. 1  Or,  God  and  Ma  Father 2  Gr.  unto  the  ages  of  the  ages.  Many  ancient  authorities  omit  of  the  ages. 


cause  came  I  into  the  world,  that  I  might 
bear  witness  unto  the  truth."  We  must  take 
the  words  in  our  present  passage  as  in  a  like 
way  broadlj'  referring  to  him  in  his  office  as 
the  Redeemer  and  Teacher  of  men,  and  not 
ah)ne  to  what  is  said  in  verse  second  of  this 
chapter,  of  the  book  before  us  as  in  especial, 
"the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ."— The  first- 
begotten  of  the  dead.  Alfordsays:  "Death 
is  regarded  as  the  .womb  of  the  earth,  from 
which  the  resurrection  is  the  birth."  The 
allusion  is  to  our  Lord's  resurrection,  "as  the 
first-fruits  of  them  that  slept"  (i  Covj^2o).— 
And  the  prince  of  the  kings  of  the  eSrth. 
"All  these  things  will  I  give  thee,"  said  the 
Tempter.  From  God  the  Father  the  Medi- 
ator received  not  only  all  power  on  earth, 
but  also  in  heaven.— Unto  him  that  loved 
us.  More  correctly,  that  loveth  us,  the  parti- 
ciple used  {iyaTT^vTi)  being  in  the  present 
tense. — And  washed  us  from  our  sins  in 
his  own  blood.  The  oldest  manuscripts — 
Sinaiticand  Alexand. — have,  instead  of  wash 
(AoUu)),  loose  from,  free  {\vu>).  If  we  adopt  this 
reading,  the  .sense  becomes:  "and/reerf  us 
from  our  sins  by  his  own  blood."  The  doc- 
trinal significance  of  the  pa.ssage  is  the  same, 
in  either  case,  though  the  figure  employed 
diflfers.  Stuart  and  Hengstenberg  (and  appar- 
ently Ellicott)  prefer  the  reading  "washed." 
Alford  and  Diisterdieck  (in  Meyer's  Commen- 
tary) regard  the  reading  "freed"  as  prefer- 
able. The  principal  reason  given  by  the  two 
former  is  that  the  imagery  in  "washed  us 
from  our  sins"  is  more  in  keeping  with  the 
Hebrew  manner  of  speech,  to  which  the  writer 
of  this  book  so  often  conforms?.  The  words 
in  Ps.  51 :  4,  "wash  me  thoroughly  from  mine 
iniquity,"  are  quoted  in  illustration.  After 
all,  it  is  a  question  of  fact  as  to  the  preferable 
reading  in  the  original  Greek.  The  MSS. 
authority  is  certainly  on  the  side  of  the  read- 
ing, "freed  us  from  our  sins,"  and  a  critical 
treatment  of  the  passage  would  seem  to  re- 
quire that  this  reading  be  adopted. 
6.  And  hath  made  us  kings,  (<7  kingdom, 


pa<Ti.\€iav)  and  priests.  The  correct  render- 
ing of  the  Greek  in  the  word  we  here  dis- 
tinguish, is  important.  A  less  ambiguous 
translation  would  be,  made  us  to  be  a  kingdom; 
that  is,  made  a  kingdom  of  us,  not  for  us. 
Believers  are  spoken  of  collectively  as  a 
"kingdom,"  in  the  sense  in  which  that  word 
is  so  often  used  /in  the  New  Testament,  not 
individually  as  "kings. "  The  word  ' ' priests ' ' 
applies  to  them  individually,  as  well  as  col- 
lectively, and  has  reference  to  the  abolishing 
of  that  ancient  ritual,  in  which  approach  to 
God  must  be  always  with  priestly  interven- 
tion.— Unto  God  and  his  Father.  To  God, 
the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  the 
being  to  whom  access  is  obtained  in  the  privi- 
leges of  Christian  priesthood,  and  in  whom 
all  might  and  dominion  and  kingship  at  last 
culminate. — To  him  be  glory  and  domin- 
ion forever  and  ever.  Amen.  Glory  and 
dominion  unto  the  ages.  Here  occurs  that 
phrase  {eU  tou?  alwva^),  used  so  often  in  the 
Scriptures  to  express  the  idea  of  eternity. 
Its  literal  meaning  is,  "throughout  tlie  ages," 
implying  indefinite  duration. 

7.  Behold,  he  cometh  with  clouds. 
Who  cometh?  It  must  be  he  that  "loveth 
us  and  loosed  us  from  our  sins  by  his  own 
blood"  ;  for  he  is  the  principal  subject  in  the 
whole  connection.  There  is,  therefore,  in 
this  the  announcement  of  that  great  fact 
which  meant  so  much  to  the  first  Christians, 
and  which  either  expressly  or  by  implication 
so  pervades  the  book  we  are  now  studying. 
The  phrase,  "with  clouds,"  plainly  recalls 
that  saying  of  our  Lord  himself  (Matt.  24: so); 
"And  then  shall  appear  the  sign  of  the  Son 
of  man  in  heaven :  and  then  shall  all  the 
tribes  of  the  earth  mourn,  and  they  shall  see 
the  Son  of  man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven 
with  power  and  great  glory."  It  recalls,  also, 
the  passage  (onn. 7:i3);  "Behold,  one  like  the 
Son  of  man  came  with  the  clouds  of  heaven." 
The  symbolism  of  the  cloud,  we  should  no- 
tice, is  not  that  of  promise,  but  of  judgment;  as 
in  the  passage  (isaiuh  i9:  i):   "Behold,  the  Lord 


.^ 


Ch.  I.] 


REVELATION. 


31 


8  "I  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  |  8  I  am  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega,  saith  the  Lord 
ending,  saith  the  Lord,  'which  is,  and  which  was,  and  ]  God,  i  who  is  and  who  was  and  2  who  is  to  come,  the 
which  IS  to  come,  the  Almighty.  I     Almighty. 

ch.  4:  8;   11:17;   16:  5. 1  Or,  he  who 2  Or,  who 


rideth  upon  a  swift  cloud,  and  shall  come  into 
Egypt."  That  the  symholism  is  to  be  viewed 
as  in  its  sterner  aspect,  is  indicated,  also,  in 
the  auxiliary  clauses  of  the  verse  under  con- 
sideration.— And  every  eye  shall  see  him, 
and  they  also  which  pierced  him,  and 
all  kindreds  [tribes]  of  the  earth  shall 
wail  because  of  him.  By  the  clause,  "they 
also  which  pierced  him,"  must  be  understood 
a  reference  to  the  fact  mentioned  by  this  same 
writer,  and  alone  of  the  evangelists  by  him ; 
as  found  in  ch.  19  :  37  of  his  Gospel.  It 
singles  out  those  who  crucified  the  Lord,  as 
they  who  shall  above  all  be  filled  with  con- 
fusion and  dismay,  when  the  Pierced  One 
appears  as  the  Judge. 

8.  In  the  eighth  verse,  beginning,  I  am 
Alpha  and  Omega,  the  Divine  Being  is 
represented  as  himself  speaking,  in  the  same 
manner  as  when  in  some  of  the  ancient  pro- 
phets, especially  Isaiah,  the  Voice  breaks  sud- 
denly and  sublimely  into  the  current  of  pre- 
diction. In  terms  consistent  with  those  which 
he  used  when  first  he  declared  himself  by  his 
name  (exo.i.  3:i4)  the  Eternal  God,  here,  not 
simply  as  the  Father  alone,  but  as  the  Ever- 
lasting One,  announces  himself;  as  if  with 
that  awful  name  endorsing  and  confirming  as 
true  the  things  written  under  this  divine  dic- 
tation. Alluding  to  the  words,  "Alpha  and 
Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  end,"  Heng- 
stenberg  saj^s:  "The  emphasis  is  to  be  laid 
upon  the  Omega.  It  is  as  much  as:  I  am 
Alpha,  therefore  also  the  Omega.  The  be- 
ginning is  the  surety  for  the  end.  The  un- 
conditional supremacy  of  God  over  the  world, 
which  is  placed  before  our  eyes  by  the  be- 
ginning, since  God  made  heaven  and  earth, 
since  he  spake  and  it  was  done,  he  com- 
manded and  it  stood  fast,  is  also  brought  into 
notice  again  at  the  end."  A  literal  rendering 
of  the  Greek  would  confirm  this  view:  "I 
am  the  Alpha,  and  I  the  Omega  also." 

GENERAL    COMMENTS. 

That  we  have  in  this  book  a  writing,  meant 
for  the  churches  of  all  time,  addressed  to  par- 
ticular churches,  as  named,  is  quite  in  accord- 
ance with  the  apostolical  method  in  general. 


The  Epistles  to  the  Romans,  to  the  Corinthians, 
to  the  Philippians,  have  a  value  and  applica- 
tion as  wide  as  Christendom,  and  as  lasting  as 
the  Gospel  Dispensation  itself;  the  truth  they 
teach,  the  lessons  and  precepts  they  enforce, 
while  suited  to  those  immediately  addressed, 
being  suited  no  less  to  all  Christians,  in  all 
times.  The  communications  in  this  book,  in 
like  manner  made  to  certain  churches  herein- 
after called  by  name,  also  in  like  manner  con- 
cern equally  the  people  of  God  in  every  age, 
and  are  to  be  regarded  as  meant  for  all.  The 
7'eason  for  individualizing  the  communica- 
tion, in  its  first  application,  in  the  present 
case,  must  be  the  same  as  in  the  instances 
abo>^  referred  to.  There  was  a  special  reason 
in  the  circumstances  of  the  churches  addressed, 
making  the  message  for  them  immediately 
appropriate  and  needful ;  and  a  general  reason 
in  the  fact  that  such  individualization  serves 
to  illustrate  the  truth  taught  and  make  its 
presentation  more  vivid.  There  may  be  no 
sufficient  ground  for  considering  these  Seven 
Churches,  in  their  condition  as  described, 
typical  of  certain  states  of  the  church  in  gen- 
eral. To  some  extent,  however,  they  may  be 
so  treated,  at  least  so  far  as  to  make  their 
spiritual  state  illustrative  of  that  into  which 
individuals  and  churches,  alike,  are  prone  to 
fall.  "The  number  seven,"  says  Edward 
Irving  {Lectitres  on  the  Revelation),  "is  em- 
ployed in  this  book  several  times,  and  always, 
as  we  judge,  with  the  same  signification,  de- 
noting unity  out  of  diverse  things,  complete- 
ness out  of  diverse  particulars;  and  this  pro- 
perty of  expressing  completeness,  totality,  and 
unity,  the  number  seven  deriveth,  as  I  con- 
ceive, from  the  only  work  of  God  which  is 
finished ;  to  wit,  the  work  of  creation,  which 
was  accomplished  in  seven  successive  acts,  and 
yet  is  one  complete  work." 

The  salutation  and  benediction  addressed  to 
these  churches  are  noticeable  both  for  their  re- 
semblance to  and  their  contrast  with  the  apos- 
tolic benediction  in  general.  Grace  and  peace 
are  invoked,  as  always  in  these  salutations. 
The  Divine  Names,  however,  commonly 
joined  with  the  invocation,  are  paraphrased 
in  a  manner  striking  and  suggestive.     It  is 


32 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  I 


true,  as  Dii-sterdiecfc  says,  that  John  is  very 
far  from  having  in  view  in  this  place  any  dog- 
matic allusion  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity; 
yet  it  is  equally  true,  as  the  same  writer  also 
intimates,  that  here  as  elsewhere  throughout 
this  hook,  the  Divine  Being  is  conceived  in 
the  three-fold  manifestation  so  familiar  under 
the  names  of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit. 
But  it  did  not  suit  the  fervid  state  of  mind 
of  the  writer  to  simply  name  these.  The 
august  formula — which  is,  and  which  was, 
and  which  is  to  come,  the  Almighty — 
while  it  expresses  the  whole  Godhead,  as  when 
first  given  to  Israel  through  Moses  in  the  name 
Jehovah,  at  the  same  time  designates  the 
Father  in  a  manner  suitable  to  the  opening 
of  a  book  in  which  so  much  of  his  sovereignty 
and  his  grace  is  to  be  revealed.  The  Spirit  is 
conceived  under  a  symbolism  suggested  by 
the  splendors  of  that  vision  of  the  divine  glory 
which  was  still  so  recent  and  so  fresh.  Around 
the  Saviour's  name  John  gathers  conceptions 
suggested  by  all  he  had  personally  known  of 
the  Suffering  One,  and  all  that  had  now  been 
revealed  to  him  of  the  glory  of  the  Reigning 
One. 

"That  loveth  us."  The  form  of  the  phrase 
in  the  more  correct  version  should  be  noticed. 
The  reference  is  not  merely  to  that  love  unto 
death  that  Jesus  showed  in  suffering  for  his 
people ;  but  that  everlasting  love  which  they 
find  in  him  upon  the  throne  equally  as  when 
he  hung  upon  the  cross. 

Whether  the  version,  "washed  us  from  our 
sins,"  or  the  revised  version,  "loosed  us,"  be 
preferred,  the  doctrinal  significance  of  the 
words  is,  as  we  have  already  said,  the  same. 
The  allusion  is,  of  course,  to  that  efficacy  of 
the  atonement  which  places  pardon  and  sanc- 
tification  within  the  reach  of  every  soul,  and 
makes  these  the  actual  possession  of  every 
believing  soul. 

The  word  "kingdom" — made  us  to  be  a 
kingdom— should  be  taken  as  meaning  more 
than  simply  that  all  believers  are  spiritually 
united,  as  if  in  a  vast  commonwealth,  with 
Jesus  as  its  king.  It  means  that  in  their  union 
with  Christ  they  partake  of  his  kingship,  and 
80  have  fulfilled  in  them  that  which  is  said  in 
such  remarkable  words  of  him  "that  over- 
cometh"  in  ch.  2:  26,  27:  "To him  will  I  give 
power  over  the  nations;  and  he  shall  rule 
them  with  a  rod  of  iron."  In  these  and  in 
like  words  is  foreshadowed  that  progressive 


and  ultimate  triumph  and  reign  of  Christ  him- 
self, in  which  his  people,  by  virtue  of  their 
union  with  him,  and  their  participation  in  all 
the  vicissitudes  of  the  mighty  struggle,  shall 
share. 

But  the  New  Testament  Church,  as  realizing 
the  typical  aim  of  the  ancient  economy  now 
done  away,  is  both  a  kingdom  and  a  priest- 
hood. It  is  so  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  in 
Christ,  the  Head  of  the  Church,  both  offices- 
king  and  priest — are  united;  and  also  by  rea- 
son of  that  union  with  himself  into  which  he 
brings  all  his  people.  His  kingship  differs 
from  all  others  in  this,  that  it  is  exercised,  not 
simply  as  a  dominion  over  those  who  are  sub- 
jects of  it,  but  as  a  dominion  through  them, 
so  that  they  fully  participate  with  him  in  all 
that  it  imports.  The  priesthood,  also,  is  pecu- 
liar in  this,  that  it  is  exercised  not  only /or 
them,  but  in  and  by  them.     The  words  of  the 

hymn — 

My  faith  would  lay  her  hand 

On  that  dear  head  of  thine. 
While  like  a  penitent  I  stand, 

And  there  confess  my  sin — 

have  a  strict  propriety  in  so  far  as  this — that  a 
Christian  believer  not  only  offers  prayer  for 
himself  and  for  others,  but  does  this,  in  the 
spiritual  sense,  with  his  hand  upon  the  slain 
offering,  after  the  manner  of  the  ancient 
priest,  and  so,  in  a  certain  way  is  permitted 
the  privilege  and  the  function  of  a  true  priest- 
hood. In  other  words,  the  whole  conception 
exalts  both  the  privilege  and  the  efiicacy  of 
prayer  under  the  New  Dispensation. 

The  symbolism  in  "cometh  with  cloud-s," 
and  its  significance,  have  already  been  briefly 
noticed.  While  we  have  in  these  words,  the 
first  mention  in  this  book  of  the  event  to  which 
all  its  revelations  look  forward,  we  find  it 
consistent,  in  its  intimations,  with  what  we 
claim  to  be  the  relation  of  our  Lord's  second 
coming  to  other  events,  and  with  the  purpose 
of  that  coming.  It  is  consistent,  also,  with 
allusions  to  the  same  event  found  elsewhere ; 
as  in  Matt.  25:  31-46:  "When  the  Son  of  man 
shall  come  in  his  glory,  and  all  the  holj'  angels 
with  him,  then  shall  he  sit  upon  the  throne  of 
his  glory;  and  before  him  shall  be  gathered 
all  nations;  and  he  shall  separate  them  one 
from  another,  as  a  shepherd  divideth  his 
sheep  from  the  goats."  Such  representations 
can  safely  be  interpreted  only  as  having  in 
view  tlie  end  of  all  things,  as  concerns  the  ex- 
isting Dispensation  of  Grace,  and  must  there- 


Ch.  I.] 


EEVELATIOK 


33 


9  I  John,  who  also  am  your  brother,  and  "companion 
in  tribulation,  and  'in  the  kingdom  and  patience  of 
Jesus  Christ,  was  in  the  isle  that  is  called  I'atnios,  <^for 
the  word  of  God,  and  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ. 

10  t^I  was  in  the  Spirit  on  «the  Lord's  day,  and  heard 
behind  me /a  great  voice,  as  of  a  trumpet, 


9  I  John,  your  brother  and  partaker  with  you  in  the 
tribulation  and  kingdom  and  i])atieiice  uiiich  are  in 
Jesus,  was  iu  the  isle  that  is  called  Patmos,  for  the 

10  word  of  God  and  the  testimony  of  Jesus.  1  was  in 
the  Spirit  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  I  heard  behind  me 


oPhil.  1:7;  4:  14;  2  Tlm.l;  8 b  Rnm.  8  :  17  ;  2  Tim.  2  :  12 c  ver.  2;  oh.  6:  9 d  Acts  10:  10:    2  Cor.  12:  2;  ch.  4  :  2  ;  17:  3; 

21:  10 e  Johu  2U  ;  26:  Acts  2U:  7;  1  Cur.  16:  2..../ch.  4  :  1 ;  10:  8. -1  Or,  sted/aUness. 


fore,  as  will  more  fully  appear  hereafter,  point 
to  the  second  advent  of  the  Lord  as  post- 
millennial.  Vitringa,  as  quoted  by  Hengs- 
tenberg,  says:  "Nor  is  it  necessary  that  the 
words  of  John  be  restricted  to  the  last  advent 
of  Christ.  For  Christ  is  said  in  Scripture  style 
to  come  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  as  often  as 
he  displays  his  glory,  and  shows  himself  as 
present  to  the  church.  And  there  are  various 
gradations  of  that  advent  of  Christ  in  which 
he  is  seen  by  his  hardened  enemies  themselves 
with  the  greatest  anguish  and  lamentations." 

9-20.  The  Vision  of  the  Lord. 

9.  I  John.     One  is  led  to  observe  the  simi- 
larity in  John's  method,  here,  of  announcing 

himself,   to   that   of    Daniel    (7:  28;  8:  l;  9:  2;  10:2). 

It  is,  perhaps,  not  a  forced  view  to  regard 
the  expression,  with  some,  as  imitated  from 
Daniel.  There  are  many  points  of  resem- 
blance, in  what  he  communicates,  between 
this  prophet  of  the  New  Testament  and  those 
later  prophets  of  the  Old — Daniel,  Ezekiel, 
and  Zechariah.  That  his  manner  should  also 
resemble  theirs  is  natural. — Your  brother, 
and  companion  in  tribulation.  In  his 
Epistles,  John  addresses  those  to  whom  he 
writes  as  his  "little  children."  Here  he  is 
their  "brother."  The  reason  of  this  differ- 
ence is  not  far  to  seek.  He  is  now  more  the 
bearer  of  a  message,  than  one  speaking  with 
apostolical  authority.  Besides,  "tribulation," 
persecution  has  come,  and  the  common  suffer- 
ing has  imparted  to  their  mutual  relationship 
more  of  the  fraternal  character.  It  is  more 
in  keeping  with  the  position  of  one  who 
suffers  with  them,  to  speak  of  himself  as  a 
"brother,"  than  as  a  father;  just  as  Jesus  "is 
not  ashamed  to  call"  them  "brethren"  with 
whom  and  for  whom  he  suffered. — The  king- 
dom and  patience  of  Jesus  Christ  [or  in 
Jesus].  The  "kingdom"  of  Jesus  Christ  is 
that  mediatorial  kingdom  whose  beginning, 
progress,  struggle,  and  triumph  are  the  sub- 
ject of  this  book.  In  the  partnerships,  hopes, 
and  fruitions  of  this  kingdom,  John  makes 
himself   the  brother  of   those   to   whom    he 


writes.  "Patience,"  in  this  place,  is  properly 
"endurance,"  combining  the  two  ideas  of 
suffering  or  trial,  and  steadfastness — the  latter 
idea  being  the  more  prominent  one.  That  it 
is  spoken  of  as  "the  patience  of  Jesus  Christ," 
implies  the  closeness  of  the  relation  subsisting 
between  himself  and  his  peojile.  It  is  not 
only  endurance  for  his  sake;  but  in  some 
sense  endurance  in  which  he  himself  shares; 
just  as  where  (Matt. 25:45),  he  makes  injury  to 
his  own,  injury  to  himself. — Was  in  the  isle 
that  is  called  Patnios.  More  literally :  "/ 
became — came  and  remained — in  the  isle,"  etc. 
The  reason,  or  occasion,  of  this  sojourn  in 
Patmos  is  not  given,  further  than  is  implied 
in  the  words  which  follow,  for  the  word  of 
God  and  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus 
Christ  [omit  Christ,  as  above].  By  this 
must  be  understood,  in  accordance  with  early 
Christian  testimony,  as  shown  in  the  General 
Comments  below,  a  condition  of  exile  on 
account  of  his  faith,  and  of  his  fidelity  and 
eminence  as  a  Christian  teacher. 

10.  I  was  in  the  Spirit.  A  better  transla- 
would  be,  "I  became  [iyivoixriv)  in  the  Spirit." 
The  form  of  the  expression  implies  a  condi- 
tion superinduced  by  some  special  cause. 
"What  this  was  appears  from  the  words,  "in 
the  Spirit."  The  meaning  is,  a  state  of  spirit- 
ual ecstasy  or  exaltation,  induced  through 
divine  influence,  imparted  for  this  purpose. 
On  the  Lord's  day.  The  reasons  for  hold- 
ing that  this  can  only  mean  the  First  Day  of 
the  week  (icor.  16:2),  are  noticed  below.  This 
is  the  first  occurrence  of  the  i^hrase,  anywhere 
in  the  New  Testament.  The  manner  of  its 
use,  here,  however,  implies  that  it  was  a  desig- 
nation of  the  Christian  day  of  rest  and 
worship  already  so  common  as  that  it  could 
not  fail  to  be  understood. — And  heard  be- 
hind me  a  great  voice,  as  of  a  trumpeto 
We  are  not  to  regard  the  voice,  or  the  person 
speaking,  as  like  what  men  see^n  to  see  or  hear 
in  dreams.  They  were  real ;  but  as  belong- 
ing to  that  spiritual  world  which  is  so  wholly 
removed  from  the  sphere  of  the  senses,  they 
could  be  present  only  to  one,  like  John,  in 


34 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  I. 


11  Saving,  "I  am  Alpha  and  Onicjia,  Hhe  first  and 
the  la-st':  and,  What  thmi  secst,  wiiti'  in  a  book,  and 
send  it  unto  ihu  sevin  lIuhtIu's  wliich  are  in  Asia; 
unto  Kphfsus,  and  unto  Smyrna,  and  unto  Pergamos, 
and  unio  Thyatira,  and  unto  Sardis,  and  unto  Wiila- 
delphia,  and  unto  Laodici-a. 

\1  And  I  turned  to  see  the  voice  tliat  spake  with  me. 
And  being  turned,  'i  saw  seven  golden  (■au<lleslieks; 

l:i  ''And  in  the  midst  of  tlie  seviii  eandlestieks  eon? 
like  unto  the  Son  of  man,  /clothed  witii  a  garment 
down  to  the  loot,  aud»girt  about  the  pups  with  a  golden 
girdle. 


11  a  great  voice,  as  of  a  trumpet  saying,  What  thou 
seest,  write  in  a  book,  and  send  U  to  tlie  seven 
churches;  unto  Ephesus,  and  unto  Smyrna,  and  un- 
to Pergamum,  and  unto  Thyatira,  and"  unto  Sardis, 

12  and  unto  Philadelphia,  and"  unto  Laodicea.  And  I 
turned  to  see  the  voice  that  spake  with  me.  And 
having  turned   I   saw   seven   golden   i candlesticks; 

13  and  in  the  midst  of  the  > candlesticks  one  like  unto 
a  son  of  man,  clothed  with  a  garment  down  to  the 
foot,  and  girt  about  at  the  breasts  with  a  golden 


a  ver.  8 6  ver.  17. 


.c  Exod.  a5:37;  Zech.  4:2;  ver.  20 d  ch.2:  1 e  Ezek.  1 : 

b....g  ch.  15:  6. 1  Gr.  lampstands. 


5;  Dan.  7: 13;  10:16;  ch.  14:  14.... /Dun.  10: 


the  Spirit;  that  is,  so  delivered  from  the 
dominion  of  sense,  and  brought  into  such 
rehition  to  the  spiritual  world,  as  that  spiritual 
voices  could  be  hoard  and  spiritual  forms 
seen. 

11.  I  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  first 
and  the  last.  In  these  words  we  have 
another  question  as  to  the  true  reading  of  the 
original.  The  words  are  not  found  in  the 
oldest  manuscripts,  and  by  the  best  interpre- 
ters are  regarded  as  introduced  by  copyists. 
This  judgment  should  be  followed,  and  we 
should  read:  "And  heard  behind  me  a  great 
voice,  as  of  a  trumpet,  saying,"  "What  thou 
seest  write  in  a  book,  and  send. — In  this 
abrupt  and  startling  way,  the  extraordinary 
scene  about  to  open  is  announced.  A  mes- 
sage is  to  be  communicated.  John  is  to  re- 
ceive it,  and  he  must  give  it  a  form  such  as 
tltat  it  maj'  be  sent  to  those  for  whom  it  is  first 
of  all  intended,  and  may  be  preserved  for  fu- 
ture ages. — Unto  the  seven  churches  Avhich 
are  in  Asia.  The  order  in  which  these 
churches  are  named  has  been  noticed.  Ephe- 
sus stands  first,  because,  says  Hengstenberg, 
"the  seat  of  John's  labors."  The  order  of 
the  list  then  "proceeds  northward  to  Smyrna 
and  Pergamos.  Then  from  Pergamos,  as  the 
most  northerly  point,  it  goes  in  a  regular 
southeasterlj'  direction  down  by  Thyatira, 
Kardis,  Philadelphia,  to  Laodicea,  which  is 
almost  in  the  same  parallel  of  south  latitude 
as  Ephesus,  but  considerably  ftirther  east." 

12.  Turned  to  see  the  voice  that  spake 
Avith  me.  The  voice  is  spoken  of  in  verse  10 
as  "a  great  voice,  as  of  a  trumpet."  The 
loudness  and  the  trumpet-tone  of  the  voice 
were  in  keeping  with  the  august  nature  of  the 
vision,  the  majestic  sound  of  it  suggesting 
something  extraordinary,  even  before  the  per- 
son addressed  had  turned  to  see  whence  it 
came. — Spake.  If  we  translate  the  word  more 
literallj',  "was  speaking,"  so  that  it  may  ex- 


press continuous  action,  we  get  the  incident, 
as  it  occurred,  mors  clearly  before  the  mind. 
"When  the  voice  is  first  heard,  John  turns 
suddenly,  as  would  be  natural,  to  see  who  it 
is  that  speaks. — Seven  golden  candlesticks. 
The  word  "candlesticks"  is  misleading.  The 
seven-branched  light-holder  in  the  tabernacle 
and  temple,  to  which  the  symbolism  here 
refers,  was  for  holding  lamps.  The  better 
rendering  is  "lamp-stands."  The  same  sym- 
bol is  used  in  Zech.  4:2;  only  with  a  very 
notable  difference.  In  Zechariah,  a  single 
lamp-stand  is  seen;  here  there  are  seven. 
This  diflerence  corresponds  to  that  which  is 
observed  in  comparing  the  marked  organic 
unity  of  the  Jewish  spiritual  and  civil  econ- 
omy, and  the  organic  multiplicity  of  the 
Christian.  The  seven  distinct  light-holders  in 
John's  vision  represent  the  individuality  and 
multiplicity  of  gospel  churches.  Each,  as 
bearing  lights,  fulfills  that  office  which  the 
Lord  appointed  in  the  words,  "Ye  are  the 
light  of  the  world."  The  number  seven  has 
no  farther  reference  to  the  seven  churches  of 
Asia  just  named,  than  as  in  their  case  also, 
signifying,  in  accordance  with  the  symbolical 
force  of  this  number,  eoinpleteness.  That  is 
to  say,  these  seven  light-holders  represent  all 
churches  in  all  ages,  alike  as  setting  forth 
their  design,  their  relation  to  each  other  and 
to  him  who  walks  in  the  midst  of  them,  and 
as  all  equally  addressed  in  the  messages  which 
follow. 

13.  And  in  the  midst  of  the  seven  can- 
dlesticks one  like  unto  the  Son  of  man. 
As  in  the  Greek  the  article  is  wanting,  Stuart 
prefers  to  translate  "like  unto  a  son  of  man," 
that  is,  one  in  the  form  of  a  man.  He  does  not 
doubt,  however,  that  he  whom  John  thus  sees 
is  the  Lord,  in  his  glorified  human  body,  or 
that  the  phrase,  "Son  of  man,"  is  taken  from 
the  frequent  use  of  the  same  phrase  by  our 
Lord  himself  in  the  Gospels.    We  cannot  fol- 


Ch.  I.] 


REVELATION. 


35 


14  His  head  and  "his  hairs  loere  white  like  wool,  as 
white  as  snow;  and  'his  eyes  tvere  as  a  Hame  of  fire; 

15  ''And  his  leet  like  unto  fine  brass,  as  if  they 
burned  in  a  furnace;  and  <^his  voice  as  the  sound  of 
many  waters. 


14  girdle.    And  his  head  and  his  hair  were  white  as 
white  wool,  white  as  snow  ;   and  his  eyes  were  as  a 

15  flame  of  fire;  and  his  feet  like  unto  burnished  brass, 
as  if  it  had  been  refined  in  a  furnace ;  and  his  voice 


a  Dnn.  7:9 6  Dan.  10:  6;  cb.  2: 18;  19:  12 c  Ezek.  1.  7;  Dan.  10:  6;  cb.  2  :  18 dKzek.  43:  2;  Dan.  10:  6;  cb.  U:  2;  19: 


low  him  in  his  translation,  for  these  reasons: 
(1)  Winer  explains  (p.  125),  that  the  omis- 
sion of  the  article  before  the  word  "Son" 
does  not  give  the  word  this  general,  indefinite 
sense,  since  "Son"  is  made  definite  by  the 
word  "man"  (av'^pionov),  which  follows.  The 
same  form  occurs  at  John  5 :  27:  "And  hath 
given  him  authority  to  execute  judgment 
also,  because  he  is  (the)  Son  of  man  (on  vlbi 
ovSpajTTou  cVtiV)."  Also  at  Eom.  1:4,  where 
the  phrase,  "the  Son  of  God,"  is  in  the  Greek 
simply  "Son  of  God."  See  also  Mark  1:1; 
15,  39;  Matt.  27:  43.  (2)  Alford  calls  atten- 
tion to  the  usage  in  the  phrase  "the  Spirit  of 
God"  (nvevna&eov),  where  a  like  omission  of  the 
article  quite  frequently  occurs.  A  significant 
example  is  that  passage  (>nttt.  3:i6),  where  we 
read,  "And  lo,  the  heavens  were  opened  unto 
him,  and  he  saw  the  Spirit  of  God  (n-veO/iiaeeoC) 
descending  like  a  dove."  (3)  New  Testament 
usage,  therefore,  warrants  us  in  retaining  here 
the  usual  translation.  We  may  add  that  we 
cannot  well  doubt  it  to  have  been  the  purpose 
of  John,  in  this  place,  to  indicate  distinctly 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  now  glorified,  when 
we  consider  how  much  of  significance  and 
force  the  identity  of  the  person  speaking  lends 
to  what  is  subsequently  said  by  him  in  the 
messages  to  the  churches. — Clothed  with  a 
garment  doAvn  to  the  foot.  The  long, 
flowing  garment,  or  robe,  was  a  mark  of  royal 
or  priestly  dignity. — And  girt  about  the 
paps  [the  breast]  with  a  golden  girdle. 
That  the  girding  of  the  robe  is  at  the  breast, 
instead  of  the  loins,  does  not  appear  to  be  an 
incident  so  significant  as  some  (Bengel,  De 
Wette,  and  others)  suppose.  Bengel  led  the 
way  in  maintaining  that  a  girdle  at  the  loins 
indicates  activity ;  at  the  breast,  repose.  Ziillig 
considers  the  latter  mode  of  girding  a  sign  of 
dignity  and  majesty.  Diisterdieck  quotes  Jo- 
sephus  (Antiq.  III.  7,  2),  as  authority  for  the 
statement  that  the  priests  were  customarily 
girded  about  the  chest. 

14.  His  head  and  his  hairs  were  white 
like  wool,  as  Avhite  as  snow.  The  word 
for  "white"  {\evK6v),  agrees,  in  the  Greek,  with 
"wool"  (eptoi/),  and  not  with  "snow"  {xiuv). 


So  that  the  passage  should  read,  ^^  His  head 
and  his  hair  were  as  white  wool,  as  S)iow." 
One  is  reminded,  here,  of  the  passage  in 
Daniel  (7:  9) :  "I  beheld  till  the  thrones  were 
cast  down,  and  the  Ancient  of  Days  did  sit, 
whose  garment  was  white  as  snow,  and  the 
hair  of  his  head  like  the  pure  wool  '  In 
the  account  of  the  Transfiguration,  we  read 
(Luke9:29),  " As  he  prayed,  the  fashion  of  his 
countenance  was  altered,  and  his  raiment  was 
white  and  glistering."  In  the  manifestation 
of  himself  to  John,  on  the  occasion  now  under 
consideration,  the  person  of  the  Lord  was  in 
a  like  manner  transfigured  and  glorified,  only 
3'^et  more  resplendently,  and  with  more  evident 
signs  of  divinity.  It  should  be  noticed  that 
both  the  head  and  the  hair  are  described  as 
"white,  like  white  wool,"  showing  that  we 
are  not  to  take  the  description  of  the  hair, 
like  wool,  too  literally,  but  as  indicating  in 
general  the  majestic  splendor  of  the  whole 
head  and  face.  It  is  only  the  ivhiteness  of  the 
wool  which  is  intended  in  the  expression. — In 
a  like  way  we  must  take  the  words  which  fol- 
low, and  his  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire. 
This  can  mean  only  that  gleaming  brilliancy 
of  the  eye,  which  has  so  much  to  do  in  lending 
force  of  expression  to  the  whole  face.  We 
are  reminded,  again,  of  Daniel  (i**-"  ):  "his 
face  as  the  appearance  of  lightning,  and  his 
eyes  as  lamps  of  fire." 

15.  And  his  feet  like  unto  fine  brass,  as 
if  they  [it]  burned  in  a  furnace.  Much 
diflSculty  has  been  found  in  the  etymology  ot 
the  word  (xaAxoAijSa.'a.)  translated  "fine  brass." 
Alford  claims  that  "this  word  has  defeated 
all  the  ingenuity  of  the  commentators  hither- 
to." " Brass" (xoAkos)  "from  Lebanon"  (At'^ai^o?) 
might  seem  the  most  natural  explanation, 
if  mention  were  anywhere  made  of  fine  brass, 
or  brass  of  any  kind,  as  brought  from  Leba- 
non. "If  conjecture  were  admissible,"  says 
Alford,  "(which  it  is  not),  I  should,  in  de- 
spair of  a  way  out  of  the  difficulty,  suggest 
whether  the  word  may  not  have  been  x'^^ko^'- 
^aSiui,  a  stream  of  melted  brass."  Stuart  and 
Hengstenberg  treat  the  word  as  of  Hebrew 
origin,  and  having  the  meaning  of  "fine"  or 


se 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  I. 


If)  "And  lie  had  in  his  right  hand  seven  stars:  and 
»oiit  of  liis  mouth  went  a  sharp  two-edged  sword;  'and 
his  countenance  was  as  the  sun  shineth  in  his  strengtli. 

17  And  ■'when  I  saw  him,  I  Cell  at  his  feet  as  dead. 
And  <lie  laid  his  right  hand  upon  me,  saying  unto  me, 
Fear  not;  /I  am  the  tirst  and  the  last: 

18  (//  inn  he  that  liveth,  and  was  dead;  and,  behold, 
*I  am  alive  for  evermore,  Ameu ;  and  'have  the  keys 
of  hell  and  of  death. 


16  a-s  the  voice  of  many  waters.  And  he  had  in  his 
right  hand  seven  stars:  and  out  of  his  mouth  pro- 
ceeded a  sharp  two-edged  sword:   and   his  counte- 

17  nance  was  as  the  sun  shineth  in  his  strength.  And 
when  I  saw  him,  I  fell  at  his  feet  as  one  dead.  And 
he  laid  his  right  hand  upon  nie,  saying,  Fear  not : 

18  I  am  the  first  and  the  last,  and  the  Living  one  ;  and 
1 1  was  dead,  and  behold,  I  am  alive  *  for  evermore, 


a  »er.  20;  ch.  2 : 1 ;  3:  1 M»».  49:  2;  Ephes.  6  :  17  ;  Heb.  4  :  12  ;  ch.  2:  12,  16;  19:  15.  21 c  Acts  26:  13;  ch.  10:  \....d  Ezck.  1: 

2a....eDau.8:  18;  10:  10...:/Isa.  41 :  4  :  44  :  6  ;  4S  :  12;  ch.  2  :  fi ;  22  :  13  ;  ver.  11.... g  R..m.  6:  9....A   ch.  4  :  9  ;  5:  14....!  hs.  6s:  20; 
ch.  20:  1. 1  Gr.  became 2  Gr.  unto  the  ages  of  the  ages. 


"clear  brass"  (see  Dan.  10:  6).  Strictly 
speaking,  the  word  means  bronze,  not  brass. 
We  should  not  read,  "as  if  they  burned  in  a 
furnace";  but,  "as  if  i^  burned,"  meaning 
that  the  brass,  or  bronze — not  the  feet — is  pure 
and  shining  as  it  would  appear  while  refined 
in  the  furnace. — And  his  voice  as  the 
sound  of  many  waters.  An  impressive 
image,  alluding  to  the  deep  murmur  of  the 
sea-wave.s,  and  indicating  the  peculiar  maj- 
esty of  the  tone.  We  have  explained  above, 
that  the  voice  which  John  heard  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  vision  was  not  that  of  him  whom 
he  sees,  as  he  turns;  but  of  some  attendant 
angel. 

16.  And  he  had  in  his  right  hand  seven 
stars.  We  are  to  conceive  the  hand  as  ex- 
tended and  held  open,  and  the  stars  resting 
upon  the  palm.  We  may  also  suppose  them 
to  appear  ther^  in  a  circle,  like  a  wreath  or 
garland. — And  out  of  his  mouth  went  a 
sharp,  two-edged  sword.  There  is  some 
difficulty  in  conceiving  this  in  a  way  to  make 
the  description  appear  congruous  and  seemly. 
Perhaps  we  shall  be  aided  in  it  by  recurring 
to  the  passage  (2Thes8. 2:8),  "whom  [the  lawless 
one]  the  Lord  shall  consume  with  the  spirit 
[breath]  of  his  mouth,  and  shall  destroy  with 
the  brightness  of  his  coming."  To  this  cor- 
responds, in  some  measure,  what  is  said  in 
Rev.  2:  16:  "Repent,  or  else  I  will  come  unto 
thee  quickly,  and  will  fight  against  them 
with  the  sword  of  my  mouth."  (See,  also, 
Heb.  4:  12.)  The  symbolism  in  all  these 
passages,  including  the  one  now  especially 
studied,  must  indicate  the  scrutiny  with  which 
the  hf^arts  and  lives  of  men  are  tried  by  him 
to  whom  belongs  judgment  as  well  as  mercy, 
and  alike  the  rebnke  and  the  pnnis/ittiant  Avith 
wliicli  sin  is  visited.  In  forming  to  ourselves 
some  conception  of  the  imagery,  we  may 
think  of  a  shining  appearance,  like  a  sword, 
as  if  it  might  be  visible  breath,  iirocecding 
from  the  mouth. — And  his  countenance 
was  as  the  sun  shineth  in  his  strength. 


In  this  the  former  details  seem  to  be  grouped 
into  one  view,  indicating  the  majesty  of  the 
appearance. 

17,  18.  And  Avhen  I  saw  him,  I  fell  at 
his  feet  as  dead.  There  are  many  places 
in  Scripture  where  the  eflTect  upon  humanity 
of  even  such  a  measure  of  manifestation  of 
the  divine  glory  as  has  been  granted  to  men 
in  this  world,  is  illustrated.  Readers  may 
turn  to  Isa.  6:  5;  Ezek.  1:  28;  Dan.  8:  17, 
18,  27;  10:  7-9.  In  this  present  case,  we  are 
to  note  the  fact  that  he  in  whose  person  this 
manifestation  appears  is  that  "Son  of  man" 
whom  John  had  known  so  intimately,  and 
between  whom  and  himself  the  mutual  tie 
had  been  so  peculiarly  tender.  The  effect  of 
this  view  of  him  in  his  glorj'  is  not  to  be 
attributed  to  any  other  cause  than  the  sur- 
passing splendor  of  the  vision  itself  acting 
upon  the  consciousness  of  human  lowliness 
and  sinfulnesss  in  the  person  beholding. — 
And  he  laid  his  right  hand  upon  me, 
saying  unto  me.  Fear  not.  When  Isaiah 
(6:  5)  was  in  a  like  manner  overcome,  one  of 
the  seraphim  came  to  him  and  touched  his 
lips  with  a  live  coal  from  the  altar.  Ezekiel 
(1:28),  in  the  same  circumstances,  heard 
simply  a  voice  speaking  to  him,  and  com- 
manding him  to  stand  upon  his  feet.  In 
Daniel's  case,  the  messenger  angel  touches 
him,  and  sets  him  upright.  To  John  more 
is  granted  than  to  either  of  these.  The  right 
hand  of  the  glorious  being  is  laid  upon  him 
in  protection,  and  the  voice  speaks  re-assur- 
ing words,  mingling  with  what  inijdies  a 
present  divinity  allusions  to  that  human  form 
and  history,  in  the  very  recollection  of  which 
John  could  not  fail  to  find  comfort  and  sup- 
port.— I  am  the  first  and  the  last.  The 
division  of  verses,  here,  breaks  the  sense,  and 
is  plainly  wrong.  Verse  18  should  be  read  in 
immediate  association  with  that  which  pre- 
cedes. The  connection  then  becomes,  "lam 
the  first  and  the  last;  I  am  he  that  liveth, 
the  Living    One,"   (6  ii>v).     The   latter  clause 


Ch.  I.] 


REVELATION. 


87 


19  Write  "the  things  which  thou  has  seen,  'and  the 
things  which  are,  ■'aud  the  things  which  shall  be  here- 
after ; 

20  The  mystery  ''of  the  seven  stars  which  thou  sawest 
in  my  right  hand,  "and  the  seven  golden  candlesticks. 
The  seven  stars  are  /the  angels  of  the  seven  churches: 
and  flthe  seven  candlesticks  which  thou  sawest  are  the 
seven  churches. 


19  and  I  have  the  keys  of  death  and  of  Hades.  Write 
therefore  tlie  things  which  thou  sawest,  and  the 
things  whicli  are,  and  the  things  which  shall  come 

20  to  pass  hereafter;  the  mystery  of  the  seven  stars 
which  thou  sawest  lin  my  right  hand,  and  the  seven 
golden  2 candlesticks.  The  seven  slurs  are  the  angels 
of  the  seven  churches:  and  the  seven -candlesticks 
are  the  seven  churches. 


over.  12,  etc ftch.  2:  1,  etc c  ch.  4  :  l.etc. 


r.  In e  ver.  12.... /Mai.  2:7;  ch.  2:  1,  etc g  Zech.  4: 

-1  Gr.  upon 2  Gr.  lampstands.  ^ 


Matt.  5:  13; 


thus  explains  the  first.  If  we  ask,  in  what 
sense  is  Christ  "the  first  and  the  hist,"  the 
answer  is  that  he  is  such  as  being  "the  Living 
One";  the  Being  who  has  life  in  himself, 
"who  only  hath  immortality,"  the  fir.st  and 
the  last.  It  is  quite  in  the  manner  of  those 
assertions  of  his  own  eternal  being  which 
Jehovah  makes  in  so  many  places  in  the  Old 
Testament.  (See  Isa.  43:  10-18;  44:  6;  48:  12). 
It  is  therefore  the  attribution  to  himself  of 
that  eternitjr  of  being  (equivalent  to  "I  am 
Alpha  and  Omega")  which  belongs  to  God 
alone. — And  was  dead.  The  Living  One 
that  died;  having  assumed,  in  connection 
with  the  divinity,  a  nature  capable  of  death, 
and  in  this  nature  having  actually  suffered 
death.— And  behold  I  am  alive  forever- 
more.  Amen.  A  glorious  fact,  now  asserted 
with  solemn  asseveration,  and  which  warrants 
the  joyful  confidence  of  the  trusting  soul. 
"My  Redeemer  Hveth!" — And  have  the 
keys  of  hell  and  of  death — of  death  and 
the  world  of  the  dead;  not  Gehenna,  but 
Hades.  This  imagery  of  the  gate  and  its 
"keys"  was  natural  in  a  country  and  a  time 
when  walled  cities  were  so  common.  It  may 
be  taken  as  a  symbol  of  that  concentration 
of  power,  of  which  the  strong,  walled  city 
was  itself  representative.  Hence  the  personi- 
fication of  Death  as  some  inexorable  poten- 
tate, and  the  world  of  the  dead  as  ruled  by 
him,  the  dread  tyrant.  "I  am  he,"  says 
the  glorified  Redeemer,  "that  hath  the  'keys' 
of  that  strong  city;  a  power  greater  than  that 
of  him  who  seems  so  invincible,  so  that  he 
rules  onlj''  by  sufferance." 

19.  Write  the  things  which  thou  hast 
seen,  and  the  things  which  are,  and  the 
things  which  shall  be  hereafter.  More 
fully  rendered,  write  therefore  the  things,  etc. 
Says  Grotius,  '^quia  me  tarn potentem  vides'^ ; 
Because  of  what  you  see  of  my  power  and 
present  glory,  therefore  write.  John  could 
not  doubt  of  his  commission,  in  this  regard, 
with  such  a  vision  before  him.     Three  classes 


of  things  to  write  appear  to  be  indicated. 
Between  the  first  and  the  second  the  distinc- 
tion at  first  does  not  seem  so  clear.  It  might 
appear  as  if  "the  things  which  thou  sawest" 
(Rev.  Version),  and  "the  things  which  are" 
must  be  the  very  same  things,  since  the  vision 
is  still  a  present  one.  In  view  of  this  difl[i- 
culty,  some  writers  prefer  to  take  the  words 
"which  are"  (&  elalv),  as  better  rendered, 
"what  they  (the  things  seen)  mean."  Per- 
haps, however,  we  may  regard  the  second 
and  third  clauses  as  in  some  sort  epexegetical 
of  the  first;  in  that  case,  the  clause,  "things 
which  thou  hast  seen,"  will  comprehend  the 
two  classes,  "things  which  are,"  and  "things 
which  shall  be  hereafter"  ;  the  former  being 
the  messages  k)  the  churches  soon  to  be  given, 
with  all  that  appears  in  that  connection;  the 
latter  subsequent  visions  and  revelations,  as 
given  in  later  portions  of  the  book. 

20.  The  mystery  of  the  seven  stars  .  .  « 
and  the  seven  golden  candlesticks.  By 
"mystery"  (iJ.vaTripi.ov),  alike  in  New  Testa- 
ment and  in  classic  usage,  is  to  be  under- 
stood, not  that  which  is  incomprehensible,  but 
simply  that  which  has  not  as  yet  been  so 
revealed  or  expounded  as  to  be  actually  com- 
prehended or  known.  In  this  sense  the  word 
was  used  in  speaking  of  "the  Eleusinian 
Mysteries."  Thus,  the  seven  stars  and  the 
seven  golden  candlesticks  have  here  a  hidden 
meaning,  which  must  be  explained,  or  re- 
vealed, before  it  can  be  known.  The  general 
significance,  however,  is  given  already  in  the 
words  which  follow. — The  seven  stars  are 
the  angels  of  the  seven  churches,  and 
the  seven  candlesticks  .  .  .  are  the  seven 
churches.  The  full  significance  of  what  these 
imply  is  left  to  appear  more  full}^  in  what  is 
said  later.  The  words  simply  present  the 
general  sense  of  the  symbol.  By  "angels  of 
the  churches,"  we  understand,  for  reasons 
given  in  connection  with  the  exposition  in 
the  next  chapter,  the  chief  otficer  in  each  of 
these  churches. 


38 


KEVELATION. 


[Ch.  I. 


GKNKRAL   COMMENTS. 

It  is,  perhaps,  unnecessary  to  go  at  large 
into  the  question  which  has  been  somewhat 
discussed,  whetiier  John  simply  visited  Pat- 
mos  for  the  purpose  of  writing  the  Apoca- 
lypse, or  whether,  as  has  been  the  almost 
universal  tradition  and  belief,  he  was  sent 
thither  by  the  pei'secuting  pagan  authorities. 
The  first  view,  held  by  a  few  commentators 
that  follow  De  Wette,  is  based  upon  a  mean- 
ing given  to  the  words  in  verse  9:  "for  the 
word  of  God,  and  the  testimony  of  Jesus 
Christ,"  and  more  especially  upon  the  as- 
sumed force  of  the  preposition,  by  them  trans- 
lated "for  the  sake  of"  (Sta).  An  equally 
correct  translation  is  ''^because of, ^'  or,  ''''incon- 
sequence ofy  The  former  rendering  would 
implj'  that  the  reason  of  the  apostle's  stay  in 
Patmos  was  that  he  might  there  receive  and 
record  the  visions  here  contained;  the  latter, 
that  it  was  on  account  of  "the  testimony  of 
Jesus  Christ,"  which  he  had  borne,  and  "the 
word  of  God,"  which  he  had  preached — on 
account  of  his  fidelity  in  this  ministry — that 
his  abode  had  come  to  be  in  the  desolate 
island  named.  While  this  latter  interpreta- 
tion seems  the  more  consistent  and  probable, 
it  is  borne  out  by  the  testimony  of  those 
whose  witness,  in  a  case  like  this,  should  be 
conclusive.  For  example,  Origen,  explaining 
that  passage  in  Matthew,  wliere  our  Lord 
inquires  of  the  two  sons  of  Zebedee,  John  and 
James:  "Are  ye  able  to  drink  of  the  cup  that 
I  shall  drink  of,  and  to  be  baptized  with  the 
baptism  that  I  am  baptized  with?"  mentions, 
as  illustrating  the  significance  of  these  words, 
the  murder  of  James  by  Herod,  and  the  ban- 
ishment of  John  to  Patmos  "by  the  king  of 
the  Romans,"  meaning,  of  course,  one  of  the 
emjierors — though  which  emperor,  he  does 
not  say.  Victorinus,  who  suffered  martyrdom 
under  Diocletian,  in  a.  d.  303,  and  who  was 
the  first  of  all  who  have  written  commen- 
taries upon  the  Apocalypse,  says  in  substance 
the  same  thing,  adding,  however,  that  the 
apostle  was  condemned  to  work  in  the  mines, 
in  addition  to  the  sentence  of  exile.  There  is 
really  no  reason  to  call  in  question  what  has 
been  almost  frr)m  the  date  of  the  book  itself, 
the  constant  testimony  of  Christian  history  as 
to  the  banishment  of  John  to  Patmos,  as  we 
have  shown  elsewhere,  by  Domitiaii;  while, 
as  Stuart  makes  clear,  the  construction  of  the 


passage  in  question  so  as  to  show  that  it  must 
be  taken  in  this  sense,  is  alone  consistent  with 
the  usage  of  the  New  Testament  Greek  in 
like  cases. 

The  testimony  as  to  the  early  observance  of 
the  first  day  of  the  week  as  the  Christian  day 
of  rest  and  worship,  and  of  its  designation  as 
"the  Lord's  Day,"  is  conclusive.  Two  pas- 
sages in  the  New  Testament  may  be  cited. 
Acts  20:  7:  "And  upon  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  when  the  disciples  came  together  to 
break  breatV  ;  and  1  Cor.  16:  2:  "Upon  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  let  every  one  of  you 
lay  by  him  in  store,"  etc.  The  natural  and 
consistent,  almost  the  necessary  interpreta- 
tion of  these  passages  is  that  already,  in  the 
apostolic  period,  and  probably  from  the  very 
date  of  the  formal  institution  of  the  church 
with  its  observances,  "the  first  day  of  the 
week" — the  day  of  our  Lord's  resurrection — 
was  recognized  as  that  which  should  be  ob- 
served as  the  day  of  Christian  rest  and 
worship;  when  the  disciples  should  come 
"together  to  break  bread,"  when  they  should 
prepare  or  make  their  gifts  for  the  Lord's 
cause,  and  when  other  things  t;hould  be  done 
as  acts  of  Christian  devotion  and  service. 
Quite  consistently  with  this,  we  find  Christian 
writers,  at  a  very  early  date,  speaking  of  the 
day  as  being  such  as  we  describe.  In  the 
epistle  of  Ignatius,  to  the  Magnesians,  dated 
about  A.  D.  101 — only  a  few  years  after  the 
date  of  the  Apocalypse  itself — the  first  day  of 
the  week  is  mentioned  as  the  Lord's  Day, 
while  Christians  are  characterized  as  "no 
longer  observing  the  Sabbath;  but  living  in 
the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day,  on  which 
also  our  life  has  sprung  up  again  by  him  and 
by  his  death."  Like  things  are  said  by 
Clemens  Alexandrinus,  Justin  Martyr,  Ire- 
nieus,  Epiphanius,  Eusebius,  and  others. 
Stuart  quotes,  in  a  foot-note,  a  highly  im- 
portant passage  from  Eusebius'  Commentary 
upon  the  Ninety-second  Psalm :  "The  Word, 
(Christ),  by  the  new  covenant,  translated  and 
transferred  the  feast  of  the  Sabbath  to  the 
morning  light,  and  gave  us  the  symbol  of  true 
rest,  viz.,  the  saving  LoriV s  Day,  the  first  (day) 
of  the  light,  in  which  the  Saviour  ....  ob- 
tained the  victory  over  death,  etc.  .  .  On  this 
day,  which  is  the  first  [day]  of  the  light  and  of 
the  true  Sun,  we  assemble,  after  an  interval  of 
six  days,  and  celebrate  holy  and  s])iritual 
Sabbath  .  .  .  All  things  whatever  that  it  was 


Ch.  II.] 


REVELATION. 


89 


CHAPTER   II. 


UNTO  the  angel  of  the  church  of  Ephesus  write ; 
These  things  saith  "he  that  holdoth  the  seven 
stars  in  his  right  liand,  *who  walketh  in  the  midst  of 
the  seven  golden  candlesticks ; 


To  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Ephesus  write ; 
1  These  things  saith  he  that  holdeth  the  seven  stars  in 
his  right  hand,  he  that  walketh  in  the  midst  of  the 


och.l;  16,  20.... 6  ch.  1:  13. 


our  duty  to  do  on  the  Sabbath,  these  we  have 
transferred  to  the  Lord's  Day."  With  such, 
and  other  testimony,  so  often  adduced,  as  to 
the  authorized  nature  of  this  change  from  the 
seventh  to  the  first  day  of  the  week,  there 
ought  not  to  remain  any  doubt  upon  the 
subject.  That  construction  of  the  phrase, 
'Lord's  Day,"  which  makes  it  mean  simply 
the  Gospel  Dispensation,  "the  day  of  salva- 
tion," as  is  done  by  a  few  ancient  commenta- 
tors, or  as  by  some  modern  ones,  so  as  to  make 
the  verse  read:  "I  was  transported  by  the 
Spirit  (or  in  spirit)  into  the  daj'  of  the  Lord's 
coming,"  is  in  each  case  so  forced  and  un- 
natural as  to  stand  self-condemned. 

Rich  as  the  Bible  is  in  vision,  symbol,  and 
allegorj',  it  is  perhaps  impossible  to  name  any 
passage  which  in  suggestiveness,  alike  sublime 
and  tender,  surpasses,  or  even  equals,  this  in 
which  Jesus  in  glory  appears  to  John  in  the 
desolation  of  his  exile.  When  we  consider 
the  relation  in  which  these  two  had  stood 
during  the  Lord's  earthly  life,  the  peculiarly 
tender  tie  by  which  the  Master  and  his  dis- 
ciple whom  he  loved  had  been  united^the 
recollection  of  which  must  have  been  the  very 
most  precious  of  those  memories  which  John 
had  cherished  during  the  long  years  of  his 
ministry  since — we  readily  enter  into  the 
emotion  with  which  he  recognized  the  familiar 
form  and  feature,  even  amidst  the  overwhelm- 
ing splendor  of  the  manifestation.  His  human 
nature  could  not  bear  the  sight ;  and  still  the 
humanity  there,  even  amidst  the  overcoming 
sublimity  of  the  divine,  made  the  vision  to 
him  what  those  which  Lsaiah,  Ezekiel,  and 
Daniel  saw,  could  not  be  to  them.  The  hand 
that  touched  him,  the  voice  that  spoke  to  him, 
were  the  hand  and  voice  of  all  in  the  uni- 
verse most  dear  and  most  entirely  trusted.  It 
was  the  "Son  of  man,"  although  "the  Lord 
from  heaven." 

It-  is,  too,  a  revelation,  to  the  disciple  in 
each  age,  of  him  who  walks  amid  the  golden 
candlesticks,  and  who  never  ceases  to  enjoin: 
"He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the 
Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches."  Thus 
"glorious  in  holiness,  fearful  in  praises,"  is 


Zion's  king.  Yet  the  hand  that  holds  the 
seven  stars,  is  the  hand  that  the  nail  pierced ; 
and  the  brow  that  shines  with  such  awful 
splendor  is  the  brow  on  which  sat  the  tortur- 
ing crown  of  thorns. 


CHAPS.  IL,  III.— EPISTLES  TO  THE 
CHURCHES. 
Ch.  11 : 1-7.  To  THf  Church  in  Ephesu.s. 
1.  Inscription.  The  angel  of  the  church 
of  Ephesus.  We  leave  for  the  General  Com- 
ments more  particular  notice  of  the  title, 
"angel  of  the  church,"  contenting  ourselves 
here  with  indicating  briefly  the  interpretation 
we  prefer.  The  reasons  upon  the  whole  are 
strongest  in  favor  of  that  view  which  regards 
the  term  migcL  in  this  place  as  the  title  given 
to  the  chief  officer  in  the  church  ;  and  to  him 
as  representing  the  church.  There  were  rea- 
sons why  Ephesus  should  head  the  list  of  the 
churches  so  addressed.  It  was  the  oldest  and 
the  chief  city  in  this  province  of  Asia  where 
so  many  other  notable  cities  also  stood,  its 
foundation  lying  back  in  pre-historic  times. 
It  had  been  distinguished  as  the  personal 
residence  of  the  great  apostle,  Paul,  and  the 
scene  of  his  labors  during  three  years  of  active 
ministry — the  longest  performed  by  him  in 
any  one  place.  Here,  also,  the  apostle  John, 
himself,  by  all  accounts,  had  his  home  and  his 
ministry  in  the  last  years  of  his  life,  having 
been  sent,  it  would  seem,  from  this  city  to  the 
scene  of  his  exile.  This  may  be  inferred  from 
the  statement  of  Clement  of  Alexandria  in  one 
place,  that  "after  the  death  of  the  tj'rant 
[Domitian]  he  returned  to  Ephesus,  from 
Patmos."  The  church  itself  was  an  important 
one,  and  probably  held  a  leading,  if  not  a 
foremost  place  among  the  churches  of  that 
region.  Fitly,  therefore,  the  messages  to  the 
seven  churches  begin  with  the  church  at 
Ephesus. — He  that  holdeth  the  seven  stars 
in  his  right  hand.  To  Zion  God  says,  by 
the  mouth  of  Isaiah  (*9=i6  );  "Behold,  I  have 
graven  thee  upon  the  palms  of  my  hands," 
indicating  how  much  she  is  beloved,  and  how 
tenderly  cherished.  The  like  imagery  here, 
in  the  passage  considered,  must  be  regarded 


40 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  II. 


2  "I  know  thy  works,  and  thy  labor,  and  thy  patience, 
and  liow  thou  caust  not  bear  them  which  are  evil:  and 
'tlimi  liiisl  tried  them  ■'whieh  say  they  are  apostles, 
and  arc  not,  and  hiist  I'oiind  them  liars: 

3  And  luist  borne,  and  hai^t  patience,  and  for  my 
name's  sake  hast  labored,  and  hast  •'  not  fainted. 


2  seven  golden  i candlesticks :  I  know  thy  works,  and 
thy  toil  and  -patience,  and  that  thou  canst  not  bear 
evil  men,  and  didst  try  them  who  call  themselves 
apostles,  and  they  are  not,  and  didst  find  them  false; 

3  and  thou  hast  ^patience  and  didst  bear  for  my  name's 


.1:6;  ver.  9,  13,  19;  ch.3:  1,  8,  15.... 6  IJobnl:  1 ci  Cor.  11  :  13;  2  Pet.  2:l....d  Gal.  6:9;  Heb.  12:3,  5. 1  Gr.  lamp- 
stands 2  Or,  sted/astness. 


as  superadding  to  this  idea,  which  seems  to  be 
in  some  measure  reproduced  in  John  10;  28, 
that  of  tlie  supremacy  of  him  who  thus  holds 
his  servants  in  his  right  hand,  and  that  of 
their  function,  as  performing  their  ministry 


for  him    by   his    power,    and   with   supreme    priety  of  the  words  which  follow 


churches  themselves.  He  walks  in  the  midst 
of  them  as  a  constant  presence,  and  so  as  to  be 
aware  of  all  that  concerns  their  state,  and  the 
measure  in  which  they  fulfill  their  mi.-?sion  as 
"the  light  of  the  world."     Hence  the  pro- 


accountability  to  him.  Says  Hengstenborg : 
"Chri-st  holds  them  fast,  so  that  no  one  can 
pluck  them  out  of  his  hand,  whether  he  is 
minded  to  protect  or  to  destroy  them."— Who 
walkrth  in  the  midst  of  the  seven  golden 
candlesticks.  Here  the  Lord  declares  him- 
self in  his  relation,  not  directly  as  before 
to  the  ministry  of  the  churches,   but  to  the 


2,  3.  Commendation.  I  know.  The 
epistle  to  each  church  opens  with  this  word, 
"I  know"  (SiSa).  There  is  in  it  both  encourage- 
ment and  admonition,  since  alike  what  is  to 
be  commended  and  what  is  to  be  blamed  lies 
ojien  to  him,  with,  at  the  same  time,  a  jierfect 
knowledge  of  what  is  needed  to  help  inliruiity, 
to  correct  evil,  to  strengthen  faith,  or1o  stim- 


Ch.  II.] 


REVELATION. 


41 


4  Nevertheless  I  have  xomew/iat  against  thee,  because 
thou  hast  lelt  thy  tirst  love. 

5  Remeaiber  therelore  troui  whence  thou  art  fallen, 
aud  repent,  and  du  the  first  works;  "or  else  1  will 
conic  unto  thee  quickly,  and  will  remove  thy  candle- 
stick out  of  his  place,  except  thou  repent. 

6  But  this  thou  hast,  that  thou  hatest  the  deeds  of 
^the  Nicolaitaus,  which  I  also  hate. 


4  sake,  and  hast  not  grown  weary.  But  I  have  /his 
against   thee,  that  thou  didst  leave  thy   first    love. 

5  Keiiiember  therefore  Iroui  wheuce  thou  art  fallen, 
and  repent,  and  do  the  first  works;  or  else  I  conic  to 
thee,  and  will  move  thy  i  candlestick  out  of  its  place, 

6  except  thou  repent.    JBut  this  thou  hast,  that  thou 


a  Halt.  21 :  41,  4S....b  ver.  15. 1  Gr.  lampstand. 


ulate  zeal. — Thy  works,  and  thy  labor  [thy 

toil],  and  thy  patience.  "Works"  epya), 
and  "labor"  (kojtoi'),  do  not  mean  the  same 
thing.  The  former  is  more  a  generic  term, 
covering  all  the  deeds  of  the  life,  good  and 
bad  ;  by  the  latter  is  meant  labor  in  the  sense 
of  service,  especially  that  which  harasses  and 
wearies;  that  which  tries  the  "patience" 
(uTTojiofTj).  The  Greek  of  this  last  word  comes 
from  two  words  which  signify  "fo  abide 
under,"  suggesting  that  steadfastness  which 
bears  up  under  burdens,  whether  these  be 
burdens  of  service  or  burdens  of  suffering. — 
And  how  thou  canst  not  bear  them 
which  are  evil.  The  special  force  of  this 
commendation  seems  to  be  indicated  in  the 
sixth  verse,  below,  where  it  is  said,  in  praise 
of  the  Ephesian  Church,  that  it  hates  the  deeds 
of  the  Nicolaitanes,"  which  I  also  hate."  This 
was  a  ground  of  commendation,  as  showing 
that  these  Ephesian  Cliristians  were  so  of  one 
mind  with  the  Lord  that  what  displeased  him 
displeased  them  and  was  intolerable  to  them. 
— And  thou  hast  tried  them  which  say 
they  are  apostles,  and  are  not.  Paul  had 
said  to  the  elders  of  this  church  (Acts 20:29): 
"For  I  know  this,  that  after  my  departing 
shall  grievous  wolves  enter  in  among  you,  not 
sparing  the  flock."  This  had  now  come  to 
pass — wolves,  however,  not  in  appearance, 
but  in  fact.  They  claimed  to  be  "apostles," 
and  were  not.  It  was  to  the  credit  of  the 
Ephesian  Church,  that  their  fidelity  and  their 
spiritual  discernment  protected  them  against 
imposition  of  this  kind.  They  tried  these 
pretenders  and  found  them  liars. 

3.  And  hast  borne,  and  hast  patience, 
and  for  my  name's  sake  hast  labored, 
and  hast  not  fainted.  This  repeats  the 
commendation  in  the  previous  verse,  with  the 
added  praise  that  all  this  they  did  "  for  my 
name's  sake."  Better  than  the  service,  the 
harassing  toil,  the  patience,  the  fidelity,  the 
scrutiny  and  rejection  of  the  evil,  was  the 
motive  inspiring  all  ;  that  high  Christian 
motive  which  is  at  once  a  stimulus  and  a  sup- 


port— "for  my  name's  sake."  Literally,  "for 
my  name"  (Sm  to  bvoiid  ijlov).  The  name  repre- 
sents the  person.  This  is  equivalent,  there- 
fore, to  saying,  "for  me  hast  labored  and  hast 
not  fainted." 

4-G.  Keproof.  Nevertheless,  I  have 
somewhat  against  thee.  This,  "I  have 
somewhat  against  thee,"  is  said  also,  in  sub- 
stance, as  appears  below,  of  the  Church  in 
Pergamos  and  the'Church  in  Thyatira.  The 
qualifying  word  "somewhat"  is  not  here  in 
the  Greek.  Even  if  it  were  so,  and  thus  the 
usual  translation  justified,  it  would  not  war- 
rant any  such  inference  as  that  this  which  the 
kSaviour  finds  thus  amiss  in  the  Ephesian 
Church  is  not  of  a  serious  nature.  The  lan- 
guage used  in  the  fifth  verse,  l:)elow,  indicates 
emphatically  the  contrary  of  this.  We  should 
read:  "I  have  against  thee,"  or,  as  the  re- 
visers: "I  have  this  against  thee." — Because 
[that]  thou  hast  left  thy  first  love.  We 
do  not  understand  why  Stuart  should  think 
it  necessary  to  interpret  the  "love"  in  this 
place  as  meaning  "the  former  benevolent 
and  beneficent  course  of  conduct."  That 
the  Ephesians  are,  in  verse  fifth,  exhorted  to 
"do  their  first  works,"  is  a  very  inadequate 
reason  for  such  a  sense,  inasmuch  as  "the  first 
works"  [ra  npuiTa  epya.)  in  that  place,  so  mani- 
festly include,  along  with  what  is  outward  in 
act,  that  which  inspires  the  act  from  within. 
Hengstenberg's  reference  to  Jer.  2:  2 — "I 
remember  thee,  the  kindness  of  thy  youth, 
the  love  of  thine  espousals,  when  thou  wentest 
after  me  in  the  wilderness,  in  a  land  that  was 
not  sown,"  as  the  illustrative  passage,  is  much 
more  to  the  purpose.  Very  truly  does  he 
also  say  that  it  is  one  of  the  characteristics 
of  this  apostle,  "to  combine  together  the  love 
of  God,  the  love  of  our  neighbor,  and  broth- 
erly love."  There  is,  plainly',  no  ground 
for  taking  the  clause  here,  "first  love,"  in 
any  other  sense  than  that  which  has  become 
so  common  in  Christian  phraseology — that 
warm,  earnest,  active  spirit  of  love  to  the 
Saviour  so  lately  found,  to  all  who  bear  his 


42 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  II. 


7  «  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit 
saith  uuto  the  churches:  To  hiui  that  overcouieth  will 
I  give  'to  cat  ol  <^the  tree  of  lile,  which  is  iu  the  midst 
ot  the  paradise  of  Ood. 


hatest  the  works  of  the  Nicolaitans,  which  I  also 
7  hate.  He  that  iiath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the 
Spirit  saith  to  tlie  churches.  To  him  that  over- 
cumeth,  to  him  will  1  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life, 
which  IS  in  the  i  Faradise  of  (jod. 


a  Mail.  11;  15;  13:9,43;  ver.  11,  17,29;  ch.  3  :  6,  13,22;  13  :  9....6  ch.  22  :  2.  14.... c  Gen.  2: 


-1  Or,  garden  :  as  iu  tSeu.  2  :  8. 


<feme,  to  his  service,  and  to  souls,  that  is  so 
much  the  common  and  beautiful  incident  of 
recent  conversion.— Remember,  therefore, 
from  Avhence  thou  art  fallen.  It  is  a  fall- 
ing, not  from  '"grace"  in  tlie  sense  of  an 
absolute  loss  of  that  which  they  had  pos- 
sessed; for  in  that  case  the  words  that 
follow,  enjoining  effort  on  their  own  part  at 
self-recover^',  would  be  wholly  out  of  place. 
They  would  in  such  a  case  be  enjoined  to  seek 
for  renewed  bestowment  of  the  lost  spiritual 
life.  It  is  decline  in  the  fervor  and  fidelity 
that  characterized  them  in  the  beginning. 
Yet,  even  so,  it  should  be  to  them  a  matter 
for  deep  concern ;  since  the  consequences  of 
continued  decay  in  spiritual  experience,  and 
its  necessary  effect,  spiritual  sloth  and  unfaith- 
fulness, must  be  such  as  are  threatened.^ 
And  repent,  and  do  thy  [the]  first  works. 
"What  is  thus  required  is  precisely  that  which 
a  Christian,  who  has  fallen  into  a  low  spirit- 
ual state  must  do,  with  a  view  to  escape  out 
of  that  condition.  There  must  be  change  of 
mind  {ixiTdvoia)  "repentance,"  involving  that 
earnest  attention  to  one's  own  spiritual  state, 
and  earnest  purpose  of  reform,  which  is 
always  the  beginning  of  good.  Following 
this,  or  attending  it,  must  be  the  resumption 
of  neglected  duty,  the  taking  up  of  the  cross 
that  had  been  laid  down — a  return,  in  short, 
to  that  whole  course  of  Christian  living  to 
which  the  "first  love"  had  prompted,  and 
the  abandoning  of  which  was  so  sure  a  sign 
that  this  love  had  been  "left."— Else  I  will 
come  unto  thee  quickly,  and  Avill  remove 
thy  candlestick  out  of  his  [its]  place,  ex- 
cept thou  repent.  We  are  to  remember 
tliat  tlic  words  are  addressed  to  a  church.  In 
the  symbolism  of  the  vision,  the  Church  in 
Ephesiis  is  represented  by  one  in  the  group 
of  seven  light-holders.  The  removal  of  its 
"candlestick"  out  of  its  place,  would,  of 
course,  signify  the  extinction  of  the  church. 
It  ceases,  thus,  to  have  a  place  among  those 
that,  as  churches  of  Christ,  are  holding 
forth  in  the  world  the  light  of  lifo.  The 
threatening  had  its  fulfillment.  The  Ephesian 
Church  long  since  ceased  to  exist,  and  Ei)hesus 


itself  is  a  ruin.  The  admonition,  however, 
may  have  availed  for  a  time;  for  this  church 
was  a  spiritual  home  for  the  aged  apostle  in 
his  own  last  daj's.  It  shared,  nevertheless, 
the  general  decline  among  the  churches  of 
the  East,  and  its  "candlestick"  was  long  ago 
"removed." — But  this  thou  hast.  Gladly 
does  the  Lord  Jesus  recognize  and  approve 
what  can  be  approved  in  his  churches.  So 
he  here  returns  to  the  language  of  commen- 
dation.— That  thou  hatest  the  deeds  of 
the  Nicolaitanes.  There  was  this  remain- 
ing and  hopeful  element  of  a  right  spiritual 
state.  The  evil  and  the  false  were  hateful  to 
them.  There  is  still  a  promise  of  good  in 
that  within  us  which  inclines  to  the  good  and 
which  repels  the  bad. — Which  I  also  hate. 
Thus  they  were  in  sympathy  with  him — 
Christ-like — at  least  so  far  as  this,  that  the 
mischievous  teaching  and  practice  which 
their  Lord  so  deej^ly  disapproved  was  disap- 
proved by  them.  Of  the  Nicolaitanes,  so  far 
as  aught  can  really  be  known  of  them,  we 
speak  below. 

7.  Promise.  Conditioned  alike  upon  the 
commendation  and  the  admonition,  there  is  a 
promise;  so  announced  and  made  so  wide  in 
its  scope  as  to  furnish  no  obscure  intimation 
of  the  fact,  that  what  is  addressed  to  this  one 
church  is  meant  for  all  churches,  and  all 
Christians. — He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him 
hear.  It  might  not  be  an  undue  expansion 
of  the  meaning  to  make  the  words  include 
every  individual  of  those  to  whose  attention 
these  messages  shall  in  any  waj'  or  in  any 
divine  word,  whether  of  admonition  or  of 
counsel,  be  brought.  In  what  is  said  in  the 
promise  to  Christians,  there  is  significance  also 
for  those  who  are  not  Christians.  As  for  the 
promise,  what  it  holds  forth  is  what  every  soul 
should  desire;  as  for  the  admonition  — "  if  the 
righteous  scarcely  be  saved,  where  shall  the 
ungodly  and  the  sinner  appear?"  It  is  worth 
observing  that  language  nearly  identical, 
"He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear," 
was  used  by  our  Lord  in  his  own  earthly 
ministry,  in  connection  with  some  of  his  more 
striking  parables  (Man.  ii:  15 ;  13-9,43).     It  is  an 


Ch.  II.] 


EEVELATION. 


43 


emphatic  intimation  that  the  words  spoken, 
or  about  to  he  spoken,  should  have  especial 
attention. — What  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the 
churches.  There  is  here  a  recognition  of 
the  fact  that  the  present  Dispensation  is  a  dis- 
pensation of  the  Spirit.  Jesus  had  said  to  his 
disciples,  in  closing  his  own  personal  minis- 
try, "  For  if  I  go  not  away,  the  Comforter  will 
not  come  unto  you  ;  but  if  I  depart,  I  will  send 
him  unto  you"  (Johuis:?)..  "He  shall  receive 
of  mine  and  shall  show  it  unto  you."  It  is 
Jesus  that  in  our  passage  is  speaking;  but  he 
to  whom  he  speaks  is  "in  the  Spirit."  The  two 
Divine  Persons,  as  they  are  one  in  essence,  so 
are  they  in  perfect  accord  in  their  operation. 
Thus  the  message  is  no  less  what  "Me  Spirit 
saith  unto  the  churches,"  than  what  the  Lord 
Jesus  says. — -To  him  that  overcometh. 
These  words  occur  in  connection  with  the 
promise  that  closes  each  epistle.  They  are  a 
clear  intimation  that  what  every  church  and 
every  Christian,  and  every  soul  that  would  be 
saved,  has  to  do,  is  to  '''overcome.^'  The  vic- 
tory to  be  achieved  is  alike  the  victory  of 
faith  (iJobn5.4),  and  the  victory  of  strenuous 
personal  struggle  and  endeavor.  It  is  worthy 
of  note  how  consonant  the  idea  and  the  phrase- 
ology in  this  place  are  with  what  we  find  in 
other  writings  of  this  same  apostle,  especially 
his  First  Epistle  as  just  quoted.  It  is  one  of  the 
indications  of  identity  of  authorship,  since, 
although  it  is  Jesus  who  speaks  in  this  place, 
we  must  regard  him  as  speaking  both  to  and 
through  that  in  him  who  is  the  medium  of 
communication,  which  is  characteristic  and 
personal. — Will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of 
life.  The  symbolism  is  founded  upon  that 
which  appears  in  the  account  of  the  "garden" 
that  God  planted  "eastward  in  Eden,"  as 
the  home  of  the  first  human  pair.  This  strik- 
ing link  of  connection  between  the  first  book 
of  the  inspired  Scriptures  and  the  last,  shows 
not  only  the  marked  unity  of  the  plan  of  in- 
spiration, but  shows,  as  well,  how  far  forward 
that  Edenic  symbol  pointed.  Its  relation  was 
not  merely  to  the  conditions  of  life  in  the 
garden,  to  the  unfallen  man ;  but  to  a  pro- 
vision to  be  made  in  the  far-away  centuries, 
and  to  the  fruits  of  that  provision  in  the  eter- 
nal life  of  redeemed  souls. — Which  is  in  the 
midst  of  the  paradise  of  God.  The  old- 
est manuscripts — Sinaitio  and  Vatican — omit 
the  words,  "in  the  midst  of"  (iv  ^eai>  toO), 
neither  do  they  have  the  "my"   (/ixou)  after 


"God"  (©eoO),  translated  "my  God,"  which 
Stuart  and  Alford  supply.  The  best  reading 
seems  to  be,  "which  is  in  the  paradise  of 
God."  This,  while  it  recalls  the  symbolism 
in  Gen.  2:  9,  anticipates  that  which  we  find 
in  Kev.  22 :  2,  where  we  shall  notice  the  force 
of  it  more  particularly.  It  must  suifice  to 
say  here  that,  as  cast  under  this  figurative 
form,  the  promise  is  equivalent  to  that  which 
we  have  in  1  John  2:  25:  "And  this  is  the 
promise  that  he  hath  promised  us,  even  eternal 
life"  ;  as  also  in  the  words  of  our  Lord  him- 
self (Joim  6:  si):  "If  any  man  eat  of  this  bread, 
he  shall  live  forever." 

GENERAL   COMMENTS. 

We  have  judged  it  best  to  analyze  each  of 
these  seven  epistles,  in  the  manner  shown 
above,  partly  for  the  sake  of  a  more  exact 
method  in  the  exposition,  and  partly  because, 
thus,  alike  the  resemblances  and  the  difter- 
ences  in  the  several  epistles  may  be  more  ap- 
parent. The  communication  in  each  of  these 
seven  messages  follows  a  like  order;  in  which 
we  have,  first,  the  title,  suggested  in  the 
vision  as  described,  by  which  the  august  Per- 
son speaking  announces  himself;  second,  an 
assurance  of  his  omniscient  acquaintance  with 
the  church  addressed,  in  its  spiritual  con- 
dition, and  every  peculiarity  of  its  faith  and 
life ;  third,  words  of  commendation ;  fourth 
(in  all  save  two),  words  of  reproof  and  ad- 
monition; fifth,  a  call  to  attention,  and  a 
promise  for  "him  that  overcometh."  "\Ve 
make  our  analysis  in  the  exposition  more 
general,  so  as  to  involve  fewer  particulars; 
keeping  it,  however,  in  substance  the  same. 

The  views  held  as  to  the  angel  of  the  church 
addressed  in  each  of  these  cases,  are  mainly 
two;  that  which  takes  the  word  "angel"  in 
its  usual  signification,  and  that  which,  found- 
ing upon  the  more  literal  sense  of  the  word 
yayyeKo<;)  "messengcr,"  "legate,"  views  it  as 
simply  a  term  of  official  designation.  It  is 
claimed  that  the  former  of  these  is  consistent 
with  Scripture  usage ;  as  where  our  Lord 
himself  says,  speaking  of  "the  little  ones" 
(Miitt.  18: 10) :  "Their  angels  do  alwaj^s  behold 
the  face  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven," 
and  those  places  in  Daniel  (lO:  21 ;  12: 1) ;  as  also 
in  the  book  we  are  now  studying,  where  men- 
tion is  made  of  "the  angel  of  the  waters" 
(16:5).  No  one  of  these  cases,  however,  seems 
to  be  analogous  to  the  present  one.     There 


44 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  II. 


are   sJ;rong   objections,   besides,   to  this  view. 

(1)  No  consistent  reason  can  be  given  why 
through  such  an  angelic  medium  the  churches 
should  be  addressed.  All  else  introduced,  as 
connected  with  these  churches,  views  them  as 
visible  (irganizations,  as  actual,  not  ideal,  and 
as  found  in  tiieir  actual  condition.  The  nat- 
ural medium  of  communication  with  them 
would  be  those  official  persons,  the  pastors, 
or  chief  officers,  who  represented  them.  (2)  It 
does  not  seem  congruous  and  consistent  that 
an  angelic  being  should  be  addressed  as  if 
either  entitled  to  the  commendation  or  liable 
to  tlie  blame,  even  in  a  representative  sense, 
which  are  expressed  in  these  messjiges.  (3) 
The  whole  subject  of  angelic  ministry,  as 
connected  either  with  individuals  or  with  or- 
ganizations, is  obscure,  being  mentioned  in 
Scripture  but  rarely,  and  never  more  than  in 
the  merest  intimation.  (4)  If  the  angels  of 
the  churches  be  viewed  as  angels  in  the  usual 
sense  of  the  word,  and  the  difficulty  alluded 
to  (in  2)  above  be  met  by  regarding  them  as 
symbolizing  the  churches  themselves,  then 
the  objection  arises  which  Rothe,  as  quoted 
by  Hengstenberg,  urges:  "There  would  tlien 
be  one  image  or  symbol  used  to  express 
another" — the  angel  as  a  symbol  of  the 
church,  and  the  star  as  a  symbol  of  the  angel. 
"Besides,  the  angels  and  the  churches  would 
stand  immediately  beside  each  other,  and  of 
both  it  would  be  spoken  in  the  same  sentence, 
that  they  are  to  be  understood  under  the 
symbols  of  the  stars  and  the  lamps;  yet  of 
the.se  two  symbolized  objects,  must  one  only 
be  a  reality,  and  the  other  a  mere  symbol ! " 

It  should  be  observed,  in  studying  this 
point,  that  (1)  The  "angel  of  the  church" 
evidently  represents  the  church.  For  in  each 
case,  we  find  in  a  subsequent  part  of  the 
message:  "He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear 
what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches;^'  so 
that  what  is  addressed  to  the  angel  of  the 
church,  is  viewed  as  addressed  to  the  church. 

(2)  That  there  were  official  persons  in  each 
church  who  held  this  representative  position. 
"When  Paul  (acu20:17)  would  leave  with  the 
Church  at  Ei)hesus  a  solemn  message,  he 
"sent  to  Ephesus  and  called  the  elders  of  the 
church."  His  address  to  them  reminds  us  of 
the  form  adopted  in  the  passage  under  con- 
sideration. It  was  not  to  the  elders  as  indi- 
viduals, plainly,  that  he  was  speaking;  but  to 
the  elders  as  representative  persons.     (3)  We 


find  Paul  writing  to  Timothy  (i  Tim  5 :  n) :  "  Let 
the  elders  that  rule  well  be  counted  worthy 
of  double  honor,  es2Jecially  they  who  labor  in 
the  word  and  doctrine."  This  shows  that 
there  was  a  distinction  among  the  elders, 
some  of  whom  were,  more  than  others,  de- 
voted to  "labor  in  the  word  and  doctrine." 
(4)  It  is  well  known,  and  admitted  on  all 
hands,  that  one  of  the  elders  held  a  position 
equivalent  to  that  of  the  modern  pastor, 
bearing  then  the  designation  of  "overseer" 
(sTTto-Koiros),  or  "superintendent,"  involving  the 
duty  and  responsibility  of  watching  over  the 
affairs  of  a  single  and  separate  organized  body 
of  Christians.  It  is  most  consistent  with  all 
that  appears  in  this  connection,  to  regard  this 
person  as  the  one  intended  in  the  phrase, 
"angel  of  the  church."  His  position  was 
itself  on.e  of  peculiar  responsibility;  so  that 
for  what  was  amiss  in  the  church  he  would  be 
held  to  account  beyond  even  those  elders  who 
did  not  "labor  in  the  word  and  doctrine." 
In  every  sense,  too,  he  would  represent  the 
church,  which  would  be  with  special  pro- 
priety addressed  through  him.  The  word 
"angel"  would  apply  to  him  in  its  literal 
force,  as  "messenger,"  "legate."  A  corre- 
sponding usage  in  the  Old  Testament  is  at 
Malachi  2:7:  "The  priest's  lips  should  keep 
knowledge  ....  for  he  is  the  messenger, 
[communicating  agent  (rnalak)]  of  the  Lord 
of  Hosts,"  to  whom  resort  may  be  had  for 
counsel  and  direction.  The  Hebrew  word, 
here,  corresponds  to  the  Greek  "messenger" 
(ayyeAos),  and  is  applied  to  the  priest  of  the 
ancient  sanctuary,  in  a  representative  sense 
akin  to  that  which  we  find  in  the  passage 
now  before  us. 

[The  question  has  been  raised  whether  it 
may  be  allowed  us  to  admit  the  po.ssibility 
that,  during  the  apostle's  exile  in  Patmos  he 
was  permitted  to  receive  visits  from  repre- 
sentatives of  the  churches  planted  ujion  the 
adjacent  coast,  so  near  at  hand,  and  between 
whom  and  himself  there  were  so  many 
mutual  ties.  That  he  should  still  have  on 
his  heart  the  "care"  of  these  "churches," 
and  that  they  should  be  solicitous  to  know 
of  his  welfare,  and  have  his  counsel  in  their 
affivira,  is  beyond  doubt.  Did  an  occasiimal 
"messenger"  of  the  church — its  pastor,  or 
other  chief  perscm — visit  him?  And  was  the 
message  in  each  of  these  cases  now  con- 
sidered, supposed   to  be   sent  through  him? 


Ch.  II.] 


REVELATION. 


45 


It  is  a  point  which  cannot  be  determined; 
yet  we  know  of  no  positive  reason  why  it 
should  be  thought  impossible.] 

It  is  deserving  of  remark,  as  Lyra  (quoted 
by  Alford)  suggests,  that  in  the  commenda- 
tion in  verse  (5,  our  Lord  "does  not  say 
'hatest'  the  Nicolaitanes,  but  the  'deeds'  of 
the  Nicolaitanes;  because  the  persons  them- 
selves are  to  be  regarded  with  charity;  their 
vices  only  to  be  hated."  The  Nicolaitanes 
are  said  by  Irenaeus,  Tertullian,  Clemens 
Alexandrlnus,  Epiphanius,  and  Jerome,  to 
have  been  persons  led  away  into  a  false 
doctrine  and  vicious  practice  by  "  Nicolas  a 
proselyte  of  Antioch,"  mentioned  in  Acts 
6:  5,  as  one  of  the  Seven  appointed  by  the 
Church  at  Jerusalem  to  relieve  the  apostles 
themselves  in  certain  secular  matters  within 
the  body.  They  speak  of  him  as  a  teacher  of 
doctrines  encouraging  immorality,  a  species 
of  antinomianism,  in  which  the  freedom  of 
the  gospel  was  so  abused  as  to  be  plead  in 
justification  of  the  worst  vices.  Other  ancient 
writers  say  that  Nicolas  was  claimed  by 
these  depraved  persons  as  their  leader  with- 
out authority,  and  simply  with  a  view  to 
gain  proselytes  through  the  influence  of  his 
name.  In  the  "Apostolical  Constitutions," 
dating  back  to  the  fourth  and  fifth  century, 
this  sect  is  spoken  of  as  "the  Nicolaitanes, 
falsely  so  called."  The  sect  is  referred  to 
again  in  ver.  1.5  of  this  chapter,  as  existing 
also  at  Pergamos,  and  where,  as  some  think, 
it  is  identified  with  those  teaching  "the  doc- 
trine of  Balaam,"  referred  to  in  the  verse 
preceding.  Associating  these  passages,  and 
claiming  to  find  a  resemblance  of  etymology 
and  meaning  between  the  names  Balaam 
("Lord  of  the  People,"  or  "Destroyer  of 
the  People,"  Heb. )  and  Nicolas  (NtKoAao?, 
"Conqueror  of  the  People"),  these  writers 
would  make  the  names  symbolical,  as  im- 
plying the  destructive  nature  of  the  teach- 
ing condemned.  Such  a  construction  seems 
fanciful  and  forced,  while  unnecessary  in  any 
consistent  exposition  of  the  passage.  The 
more  natural  view,  and,  as  already  intimated, 
the  more  strictly  historical  one,  is  to  re- 
gard this  sect  as  undoubtedly  holding  and 
practicing  the  depraved  and  demoralizing 
doctrines  attributed  to  them,  but  as  most 
probably  having  assumed,  as  endorsing  their 
"deeds,"  the  name  of  Nicolas,  one  of  the 
Seven.     The  evidence  that  their  leader  was 


actually  one  of  the  Seven,  is  by  no  means 
conclusive.  That  they  should  be  spoken  of 
so  severely  as  in  this  place  and  below,  in 
ver.  14,  15,  is  justified  by  their  character, 
and  the  tendency,  alike  of  their  teaching  and 
their  conduct.  Such  teaching  takes  away  the 
very  foundation  of  all  morality,  and  wher- 
ever it  has  appeared,  as  more  than  once  it 
has  for  substance  in  subsequent  jiistory,  it 
has  proved  itself  pernicious  and  destructive  to 
the  last  degree.  We  cannot  wonder  that  our 
Lord  should  say  of  it,  "Which  thing  I  hate." 

The  connection  of  what  is  said  here  with 
what  appears  in  ver.  2,  should  be  noted,  "and 
how  thou  canst  not  bear  them  which  are 
evil"  ;  also  the  allusion  to  those  who  claimed 
to  be  apostles,  and  were  not.  This  destructive 
element  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  within  the 
church,  but  without  it.  There  is  no  indication 
that  the  church  gave  it  even  such  apparent 
approval  as  would  have  been  implied  in  the 
fact  that  members  of  this  sect  were  allowed 
to  remain  in  its  own  body.  It  was  a  form  of 
false  teaching  with  which  the  church  was  in 
contact  at  Ephesus,  but  with  which  it  had  no 
sympathy. 

"Now  let  it  be  understood,"  says  Edward 
Irving,  "by  every  Christian  church,  that  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  walking  in  the  midst  of 
us;  in  our  assemblies  is  present,  and  from  the 
meetings  of  the  elders  is  not  absent — whatever 
is  said,  heareth ;  whatever  is  done,  marketh ; 
yea,  and  whatever  is  thought,  discerneth  full 
well :  for  'he  knoweth  what  is  in  man,  and  he 
needeth  not  that  any  should  testify  of  man.' 
And  thus  his  unwearied  travel  in  the  midst 
of  his  church,  is  well  designated  hy  his  feet  of 
brass,  of  fine  brass ;  of  fine  brass  which  never 
tarnisheth,  but  ever  shineth,  like  the  pure 
metal  which  floweth  from  the  furnace." 

"And wherefore,"  he  says  in  another  place, 
"are  these  lights  of  the  churches  [the  seven 
stars]  held  in  the  right  hand  of  the  Son  of 
man?  .  .  .  To  show  that  they  are  his,  and  not 
their  own  ;  that  they  are  borrowed  lights, 
deriving  all  their  power  of  illumination  from 
him,  according  to  that  word,  'This  is  the  true 
light  which  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh 
into  the  world.'  " 

8-11.  To  THE  Church  in  Smyrna. 

8.  Inscription.  Smyrna.  The  modern 
city  of  Smyrna  is  about  two  and  a  half  miles 
from  the  site  of  the  ancient  one.    It  has  a  popu- 


46 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  II. 


8  And  unto  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Smyrna  write; 
These  things  saith  "the  first  and  the  last,  which  was 
dead,  aud  is  alive; 


And  to  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Smyrna  write; 
These  things  saith  the  first  and  the  last,  who  ^  was 


a  ch.  1 :  8, 17, 18.- 


lation  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand 
or  one  hundred  and  ninety  thousand,  three- 
fourths  of  them  being  nominal  Christians,  in- 
cluding Greeit,  Roman  Catholic,  and  Protestant 
churches.  The  old  city  is  said  to  date  from 
about  1-jOO  b.  c,  having  been  then  founded 
by  some  piratical  Greeks.  It  is  on  the  JEgean 
Sea,  at  the  bottom  of  the  Hermaean  Gulf. — 


fourteen  or  fifteen  years  would  have  elapsed. 
What  was  his  age  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
seems  not  to  be  known  ;  we  are  only  told  that 
he  suffered  martyrdom  "in  an  extreme  age." 
If  we  might  place  his  age,  then,  at  one  hun- 
dred, he  would  be  at  the  date  of  his  conver- 
sion fourteen  years  old,  and  at  the  time  of 
John's  exile  and  the  writing  of  the  Apocalypse, 


The  angel  of  the  church  in  Smyrna.  Was 

this  angel  of  the  church  the  martyr  Poly- 
carp?  It  is  a  question  which  cannot  be 
conclusively  answered.  Polycarp  suffered 
martyrdom  under  Marcus  Aurelius,  in  A.  D. 
1G8.  He  had  then,  as  he  told  the  proconsul 
at  his  trial,  been  a  Christian  "eighty  and  six" 
years.  This  would  place  his  conversion  in 
the  year  a.  d.  82.  Between  that  date  and  the 
writing  of  the  Apocalypse,  in  a.  d.  96  or  97, 


twenty-eight  or  twentj'-nine.  He  may,  cer- 
tainly, have  lived  to  an  age  so  great,  or  even 
greater,  and  may  have  even  as  a  young  man, 
been  the  chief  pastor  at  Smyrna,  and  so  the 
"angel"  through  whom  this  epistle  is  ad- 
dressed. But  this  theory  must  build  upon  the 
two  suppositions  we  have  named,  for  neither 
of  which  is  there  any  direct  evidence.  It  is 
true  that  in  a.  d.  108,  when  Ignatius  visited 
Smyrna,  Polycarp  was  the  castor  there.     This 


Ch.  II.] 


REVELATION. 


47 


9  "I  know  thy  works,  aud  tribulation,  and  poverty 
(but  thou  art  jricli),  aud  /  knuw  tlie  blxspht'iuy  of 
'them  whicli  say  tliey  are  Jews,  and  are  not,  ''but  are 
the  synagogue  of  Satau. 

10  eFear  none  of  those  things  which  thou  shalt 
suffer:  beliold,  the  devil  shall  cast  some  of  you  into 
prison,  that  ye  may  be  tried;  and  ye  shall  have  tribula- 
tion teu  days:  /be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will 
give  thee  wa  crown  of  life. 


9  dead,  and  lived  again:  I  know  thy  tribulation,  and 
thy  poverty  (but  thou  art  rich),  and  the  i blasphemy 
of  those  who  say  they  are  Jews,  and  they  are  not, 
10  but  are  a  synagogue  of  Satan.  Fear  not  the  things 
which  thou  art  about  to  sutfer:  behold,  the  devil  is 
about  to  cast  some  of  you  into  prison,  that  ye  may 
be  tried;  -and  ye  shall  have  ^itribulation  ten  days. 
Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  the 


aver.  2.... 6  Luke  12  :  21;  1  Tim.  6  :  18:  James  2:  5 c  Rom.  2:  17,  28,  29;  9.  6....d  ch.  3  :  9....e  Matt.  10:  22..../MMti.  24:  13.. 

g  James  1 :  IJ ;  ch.  3 :  11. 1  Or.  reviling..,.!  tSouie  ancient  uutliorities  read,  and  may  have 3  Gr.  a  tribulation  often  days. 


would  be  only  eleven  or  twelve  years  after  the 
writing  of  the  Apocalypse.  Tertullian  states 
that  Polycarp  was  placed  by  John  at  the  head 
of  the  Church  in  Smyrna.  Irenaeus  implies 
much  the  same,  while  Eusebius  expressly 
states  that  he  was  "appointed  by  the  apostles 
bishop  of  the  Church  in  Smyrna."  It  will 
thus  be  seen  that  there  is  a  possibility,  per- 
haps even  a  probability^,  as  Hengstenberg 
thinks,  that  "the  angel  of  the  Church  in 
Smyrna"  was  indeed  the  saintly  Polycarp, 
himself  a  disciple  of  the  apostle  John.  Noth- 
ing in  the  way  of  exposition,  however,  can  be 
founded  upon  a  probability  so  slender. — 
These  things  saith  the  first  and  the  last, 
which  was  dead,  and  is  alive.  Upon 
these  words,  as  occurring  substantially  at  1 : 
18,  we  have  already  commented.  In  this  case, 
as  in  each  of  these  messages  to  the  churches, 
a  fitness  is  seen,  in  those  divine  attributes 
asserted  of  him  who  speaks,  to  the  tenor  of 
that  which  follows.  Not  only  was  the  Church 
at  Smyrna  already  suffering  on  account  of  its 
faith  and  fidelity,  but  more  and  deeper  suflPer- 
ing  was  in  store.  He  who  now  addresses  it 
has  known  in  his  own  person  what  it  is  to 
suffer,  "even  unto  death"  ;  and  not  only  so, 
but  even  in  that  suffering  and  that  death  he 
demonstrated  his  divine  superiority  to  both, 
and  especially  when  that  life  which  he  laid 
down,  he  "took  again"  by  his  own  power. 
Such  an  one  is  he  in  whose  name  these  faith- 
ful ones  face  the  sore  "tribulation"  present 
and  to  come.  Surely,  they  may  trust  him, 
even  to  the  end.  If  we  may  suppose  that  the 
angel  of  the  church  in  this  case  was  Polycarp 
himself,  the  words  have  all  the  more  of  affect- 
ing appropriateness. 

9,  10.    COMMEXDATION  AXD  ASSSURAXCE. 

I  know  thy  works  and  tribulation.  Critics 
are  not  agreed  whether  the  word.s,  "thy 
works,"  should  be  retained  or  omitted.  The 
revisers,  as  is  seen  above,  omit  them.  Tisch- 
endorf,  in  his  first  edition  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment text,  retains  them.     They  are  found  in 


the  Sinaitic  manuscript;  as  also  in  the  Sj'riac 
Version.  In  his  later  editions,  however,  he 
omits  them,  in  reliance,  it  would  seem,  upon 
the  testimony  of  the  Codex  Alexandrinus, 
Codex  Bezaj,  Codex  Porphyrianus,  and  the 
Vulgate  and  Coptic  Versions,  where  they  are 
not  found.  Hengstenberg,  Diisterdieck,  and 
Alford  also  omit.  Stuart  retains  them.  They 
should,  probably,  be  thrown  out,  as  an  inter- 
polation by  some  copyist,  who  inferred,  from 
the  fact  that  they  occur  in  all  other  of  these 
addresses  to  the  churches,  that  they  should  be 
inserted  also  here.  The  omission  might  be 
thought  required  by  the  tenor  of  this  message 
to  the  Church  in  Smyrna,  which  is  so  ex- 
clusively one  of  commendation  and  encour- 
agement, the  warning  words,  therefore,  "I 
know  thy  works,"  being  out  of  place.  As 
will  be  seen,  however,  the  oldest  manuscripts 
make  a  like  omission  in  the  message  to  the 
Church  in  Pergamos,  where  severe  reproof  is 
found.  [With  N,  B.  containing  them,  I 
should  rather  say  because  it  is  easier  to  ac- 
count for  their  insertion  than  for  their  omis- 
sion.— A.  H.]  If  they  are  thrown  out,  either 
here  or  there,  as  iirobably  they  ought  to  be  in 
both  places,  it  must  be  upon  the  authority  of 
the  manuscripts  alone.  We  should  then  read, 
"I  know  thy  tribulation,"  etc.  The  "tribu- 
lation" [exi^iv)  spoken  of  here,  as  also  in  1 :  9, 
"Your  brother  and  companion  in  tribula- 
tion", must  be  taken  as  meaning  more  than 
tribulation  in  that  general  sense  which  ap- 
plies to  all  who  have  experience  of  the  usual 
trials  of  earthly  life.  The  word  means  tribu- 
lation of  a  special  sort,  such  as  oppression, 
persecution,  affliction  of  some  peculiar  kind, 
brings.  It  thus  anticipates  in  some  degree 
what  is  more  expressly  intimated  below — the 
imprisonment  and  death  in  ver.  10,  where  the 
same  word  again  occurs. — And  poverty.  It 
is  "poverty"  in  the  strict  sense,  and  as  a  re- 
sult of  the  tribulation  which  this  church  was 
suffering,  and  was  yet  to  suffer. — But  thou 
art  rich.     In  "durable  riches  and  righteous- 


48 


EEVELATION. 


[Ch.  II. 


11  "He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  I  11  crown  of  life.    He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear 
saith  auto  the  churches;  He  that  overcometh  shall  not  what  the  Spirit  saith  to  the  churches.    He  that  over- 

be  hurt  of  'the  second  death.  I       cometh  shall  not  be  hurt  of  the  second  death. 

a  ver.  7  ;  ob.  13  :  9 5  ch.  20 :  14 ;  21:8. 


ness";  treasure  in  heaven. — And  I  knoAV 
the  blasphemy  of  them  which  say  they 
are  Jews,  and  are  not.  There  is  an  Israel 
after  the  flesh,  and  also  a  true  Israel,  as  Paul 
was  accustomed  to  teach.  The  promises  made 
to  the  fathers  were,  in  their  highest  sense,  for 
the  latter  only,  though  the  former  have  al- 
ways claimed  them.  The  same  distinction  is 
made  here.  Those  who  said  they  were  Jews 
based  their  claim  upon  nationality,  as  if  that 
included  all;  yet  it  was  blasphemy  in  them — 
a  dishonor  to  God,  in  which  the  essence  of 
blasphemj^  appears — to  assert  this  exclusive 
claim  to  the  privileges  of  the  people  of  God, 
while  at  the  same  time  by  their  wickedness 
bringing  contempt  upon  the  very  name  they 
bore.  When  Polycarp  suifered  martyrdom, 
the  Jews  were  especially  violent  against  him, 
eagerly  accusing  him  before  the  magistrate 
and  carrying  faggots  for  the  fire. — But  are 
the  synagogue  of  Satan.  Trench,  in 
"New  Testament  Synonyms,"  (P.  1)  in  com- 
paring "church  "  (e/cKArjcrio)  and  "synagogue" 
(avvayuiy'ri),  tcmis  the  former  the  nobler  word. 
In  quoting  him,  Alford  points  out  that  the 
latter  is  used  only  once  in  the  New  Testament 
with  a  Christian  application  (j!ime«2: 2),  where 
our  version  translates  it  "assembly."  The 
expression  "synagogue  of  Satan"  shows  how 
degenerate  and  perverse  Judaism  had  become. 
— Fear  none  of  those  things  which  thou 
Shalt  suffer.  Which  thou  art  about  to  suffer 
— art  on  the  point  of  suffering.  The  words 
indicate  that  the  suffering  alluded  to  was  near 
at  hand.  The  nature  of  the  suffering  is  shown 
in  what  follows. — Behold,  the  devil  shall 
cast  some  of  you  into  prison.  The  real 
source  of  the  spirit  of  persecution  is  thus 
pointed  out.  Kings,  and  magistrates,  and 
popes,  when  they  become  persecutors,  are 
simply  instruments  of  him  who  is  "the  ac- 
cuser of  the  brethren,"  a  "murderer  from  the 
beginning."— That  ye  may  be  tried.  It 
seems  to  be  agreed  by  the  best  commenta- 
tors that  these  words  do  not  allude  to  the 
purpose  of  God  in  permitting,  but  the  pur- 
pose of  Satan  in  instigating  the  persecution. 
"That  ye  may  be  tried"  (n-etpaafl^Te)  will  then 
mean,  "that  ye  may  be  tempted."      Satan 


and  wicked  men  were  thus  confederate  in  a 
scheme  to  crush  the  Christian  religion,  by 
methods  of  intimidation  and  violence.  The 
temptation  lay  in  that  dread  of  a  violent  and 
painful  death  which  is  so  natural,  and  with 
some  so  intense. — And  ye  shall  have  tribu- 
lation ten  days.  The  words,  "ten  days," 
must  not  be  taken  as  indicating  any  exact 
period  of  time,  but  (1)  that  the  persecution 
shall  have  a  limit,  and  (2)  that  the  term  of  it 
while  not  very  short,  shall  also  not  be  very 
long.  It  is  not  unusual  in  Scripture  for  a 
definite  number  to  be  thus  used  for  an  in- 
definite one. — Be  thou  faithful  unto  death. 
Wemust  not  read  "until  death,"  but  "even 
unto  death";  that  is,  not  be  turned  from 
fidelity  by  death  itself— And  I  will  give 
thee  a  crown  of  life.  Does  the  word 
"crown"  {(TTeipavov)  mean  a  diadem,  such  as 
kings  wear,  or  the  garland,  given  as  a  prize 
to  victors  in  the  ancient  games?  It  seems 
more  consistent  with  the  idea  in  the  word 
"overcometh,"  in  ver.  11,  to  take  the  word 
"crown"  in  the  latter  sense.  The  imagery 
in  the  overcoming  we  take  to  be  the  same  as 
that  employed  so  often  by  Paul,  when  he 
speaks  of  the  Christian  life  under  the  figure  of 
the  contest  for  a  prize.  This'  was  the  classical 
Greek  usage,  as  in  the  case  of  the  oration  by 
Demosthenes  upon  "the  crown."  The  crowi; 
of  life  must  be  the  eternal  life  itself;  as  if  he 
had  said,  "I  will  give  thee  a  crown,  even 
life." 

11.  Promise.  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let 
him  hear,  etc. — It  is  unnecessary  to  com- 
ment again  upon  these  words  as  here  re- 
peated.— He  that  overcometh.  As  implied 
above,  we  take  the  overcoming  to  be,  not  that 
of  conquest,  or  kingly  acquisition ;  but  such 
as  that  of  an  athlete  striving  for  the  prize. — 
Shall  not  be  hurt  of  the  second  death. 
The  double  negative  in  the  Greek  (6u  /urj)  has 
an  emphatic  force,  indicating  the  absolute 
certainty  of  that  which  is  promised.  We 
might  translate,  "shall  certainly  not,  etc." 
The  second  death  must  be  that  which  fol- 
lows the  death  of  the  body,  which  is  the 
first  death.  In  ch.  20:  14  of  this  book,  this 
second  death  is  described  as  "the  lake  of  fire." 


Ch.  II.] 


REVELATION. 


49 


12  And   to  the    angel   of  the  church  in   Pergauios  I  12     And  to  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Pergamum 
write;   These  things  saith  "he  which  hath  the  sharp  '       write; 
sword  with  two  edges;  |  These  things  saith  he  that  hath  the  sharp  two- 


Under  this  fearful  imagery  the  condition  of 
souls  finally  lost  is  represented.  The  promise 
here  is,  that  those  who  in  their  fidelity  do  not 
shrink  from  even  that  death  which  wicked 
persecutors  were  about  to  inflict,  under  the 
instigations  of  Satan,  shall  have  sure  deliver- 
ance from  that  other  more  fearful  death — the 
death  of  the  soul.  Instead,  they  shall  receive 
"the  crown  of  life."  We  are  not  to  under- 
stand that  by  such  fidelity  they  procured  sal- 
vation to  themselves;   but  that  such  fidelity 


under  the  name  of  Pergama,  has  now  a  popu- 
lation of  between  twenty  and  thirty  thou- 
sand, of  whom  about  two  thousand  are  nomi- 
nal Christians.  Anciently,  the  city — which 
must  not  be  confounded  with  Pergamos,  the 
citadel  of  Troy — was  noted  for  three  things: 
its  wealth,  its  literary  distinction,  and  its  idol- 
atry. The  art  of  preparing  skiiis  for  writing 
was  here  improved  to  such  an  extent,  that 
the  name  of  the  city  was  given  to  that  species 
of   manufacture,   which,    as  •parchment^    this 


PEEGAMOS. 


was  a  testimony  to  the  genuineness  of  that 
faith  in  Christ,  through  which,  as  united  to 
him,  they  became  partakers  in  the  salvation 
he  achieved  for  them  and  in  them.  In  a 
later  age,  the  crown  of  martyrdom  was  too 
much  regarded  as  certain  to  become  the 
crown  of  life.  This  was  the  effect  of  con- 
founding the  evidence  of  being  in  a  state  of 
salvation  with  that  state  of  salvation  itself. 

12-17.  To  THE  Church  in  Pergamos. 
12.  Inscription.     Pergamos  for  Perga- 
mum,   both  forms    are   found).      This    city, 


'product  still  bears.  There  was  here  a  li- 
brary of  two  hundred  thousand  volumes,  or 
parchment  rolls,  carried  afterward,  by  Mark 
Antony,  to  Alexandria,  in  Egypt,  as  a 
present  to  Queen  Cleopatra,  and  centuries 
later  (a.  d.  6-42),  destroj-ed  along  with  the 
celebrated  Alexandrine  Library,  by  the  ca- 
liph Omar.  (So  Dr.  Schaff  states;  others 
claim  that  the  library  was  destroyed  by 
certain  fanatical  Christians,  in  A.  d.  391). 
Pergamos  was  also  noted  for  the  prominence 
it  gave  to  the  worship  of  the  god  ^Esculapius. 
Other  deities,  however,  were  in  like  manner 


50 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  IL 


i:{  » I  know  thv  works,  and  where  thou  dwellest,  even 
» where  Satan's  seat  is:  and  thou  lioldest  last  uiy  name, 
and  hast  uut  denied  my  faith,  even  in  those  days 
wherein  Antipas  was  my  laithlul  martyr,  who  was 
slain  among  you,  where  Satan  dwelleth. 


13  edged  sword:  I  know  where  thou  dwellest,  even 
where  Satan's  throne  is:  and  thou  holdest  last  my 
name,  and  didst  not  deny  my  faith,  even  in  the  days 
lof  Antipas  my  witness,  my  faithful  one,  who  wa« 


a  ver.  2 6  ver. 


-1  Tbe  Greek  text  here  is  soniewhut  uncertain. 


■worshiped;  a  group  of  famous  temples  stand- 
ing in  a  grove  near  the  city,  dedicated  to 
Jupiter,  Minerva,  Apollo,  Venus,  and  Bac- 
chus, as  well  as  another  to  the  favorite  deity, 
vEseulapius.— These  things  saith  he  which 
hath  the  sharp  sword  with  two  edges. 
In  the  address  to  the  Church  in  Smyrna, 
those  characteristics  of  the  manifestation  of 
our  Lord  in  the  vision  are  named,  which 
invite  and  encourage  trust;  here  those  which 
remind  that  the  Kedeemer  is  also  the  Judge. 
Mention  of  the  two-edged  sword  occurs  again, 
in  ver.  16  below,  where  it  is  termed  "the 
sword  of  my  mouth."  The  allusion  is, 
plainly,  to  that  feature  of  the  vision  (i:i6): 
"and  out  of  his  mouth  went  a  sharp,  two- 
edged  sword."  In  commenting  upon  the 
words  there  we  referred  to  the  passage  in 
Heb.  4:  12:  "The  word  of  God  is  quick,  and 
powerful,  and  sharper  than  any  two-edged 
sword,"  etc.  As  already  pointed  out,  the 
reference  must  be  to  the  severity  of  that  scru- 
tiny in  which  the  Lord  "tries"  those  espe- 
cially, who  bear  his  name  and  represent  him 
before  the  world. 

13.  Commendation.  Thy  works.  Upon 
grounds  identical  with  those  given  above, 
upon  ver.  9,  these  words  must  be  here 
omitted.  [The  manuscript  evidence  for  them 
is  weaker  than  in  ver.  9,  being,  of  the  prin- 
cipal uncials,  only  B,  while  X»  A,  C,  P, 
omit  them.— A.  H.]— I  know  where  thou 
dwellest,  even  Avhere  Satan's  seat  is. 
Various  reasons  have  been  assigned  for  char- 
acterizing Pergamos  as  "Satan's  seat,"  or 
"throne"  (esoi'os),  as  the  word  might  with 
more  exactness  be  rendered.  Some  have  as- 
sumed that  yEsculapius  was  worshiped  there 
under  the  form  of  a  serpent,  the  symbol  of 
Satan.  But  it  is  uncertain  whether  even  the 
fact  was  as  supposed.  Others  have  found  in 
the  words  some  allusion  to  the  pernicious  in- 
fluence of  the  famous  library,  with  its  pagan 
literature,  its  false  philosophy,  and  its  en- 
couragement to  idolatry.  The  more  simple 
and  likely  interpretation  finds  in  the  words, 
"Satan's  seat,"  an  allusion  to  the  persecution 
which    had   already   found    a  victim   in    the 


faithful  Antipas,  and  to  what  has  already 
been  said  in  ver.  10,  of  such  persecution  as 
of  Satanic  instigation.  As  a  city  full  of 
idolatry,  and  already  noted  for  its  antichris- 
tian  hatred  and  violence,  Pergamos  might  in 
fact  well  be  characterized  as  a  place  where 
Satanic  influence,  and  Satan  himself,  had  an 
especial  dwelling-place. — And  thou  holdest 
fast  my  name.  "Dost  not  swerve  front  the 
profession  of  faith  in  my  name,"  that  is, 
"in  me."  The  Pergamean  Church  was  not 
blameless,  as  the  reproof  below  clearly  in- 
dicates; but  there  was  this  reason  for  com- 
mendation— that  it  had  not  been  driven  to 
deny  the  Lord  even  b3'  the  cruel  violence 
with  which  one  of  those  composing  it  had 
been  visited. — And  hast  not  denied  my 
faith  [didst  not  deny  faith  in  mc]  even  in 
those  days  [omit  "even"]  wherein  Anti- 
pas [was]  my  faithful  martyr  [better,  my 
martyr,  or  witness ;  the  faithful  one.'\  There 
is  nothing  farther  to  be  said  of  Antipas  than 
that  he  had  already  suftered  for  his  faith, 
as  am'ong  the  first  of  those  who  had  thus 
sealed  their  fidelity  even  unto  death.  Vari- 
ous fanciful  theories  have  been  proposed  for 
identifj'ing  him  with  known  historical  per- 
sons. Thus  Hengstenberg  thinks,  "it  will 
not  be  reckoned  too  bold  if  we  should  hazard 
the  supposition  that  Timothy  was  the  person 
here  designated  Antipas.  The  two  names, 
'Fear  God'  (Ti/uoeeos)  and  'Against  All' 
("AfTt  wis)  are  closely  connected  with  each 
other.  One  cannot  trul3'  fear  God  without 
standing  forth  against  the  world,  which  lies 
in  wickedness,  and  having  it  also  standing 
against  us."  Why  the  faithful  martyr 
should  have  been  called  Antipas,  rather 
than  by  his  own  proper  name,  it  would  be 
difficult  to  show.  There  was  a  tradition  in 
the  early  church  that  Antipas  (this  being 
his  real  name)  was  the  bishop,  or  pastor,  of 
the  Church  in  Pergamos,  and  that  he  suffered 
martyrdom  for  his  fidelity,  after  arriving  at  a 
great  age.  There  is  nothing,  however,  con- 
cerning him,  which  can  be  depended  upon  as 
history;  and  the  place  of  history,  in  sound 
interpretation,   can   never  be  taken   by  con- 


Ch.  II.] 


REVELATION. 


51 


14  But  I  have  a  few  things  against  thee,  because  thou 
hast  there  theui  that  hold  the  doctrine  ol'  "  Balaam,  who 
taught  Balak  to  cast  a  stuniblinghlock  before  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel,  ''to  eat  things  sacriliced  unto  idols,  "and 
to  commit  fornication. 

15  So  hast  thou  also  them  that  hold  the  doctrine  ''of 
the  ]Sicolaitans,  which  thing  I  hate. 

1(5  Repent ;  or  else  I  will  come  unto  thee  quickly,  and 
•will  fight  against  them  with  the  sword  of  my  mouth. 


14  killed  among  you,  where  Satan  dwelleth.  But  I  have 
a  few  things  against  thee,  becau.se  thou  hast  there 
some  that  hold  the  teaching  of  Balaam,  who  taught 
Balak  to  ciust  a  stumblintjblock  before  the  children 
of  Israel,  to  eat  things  sacriliced  to  idols,  and  to  com- 
1.5  mit  fornication.  So  hast  thou  also  some  that  hold 
If)  the  teaching  of  the  Nicolaitans  in  like  manner.  Re- 
pent therefore;  or  else  I  come  to  thee  quickly,  and  I 
will  make  war  against  them  with  the  sword  of  my 


a  Num.  24:14;  25:  1;  31:16;  2  Pet.  2  :  15  ;  Jude  11....6  ver.  20  :  Acts  15:  29;  ICor.  8:9, 10;  10:  19,  20.... c  1  Cor  6-13  etc        d  ver 
6 e  Isii.  11:  4;  2Tliess.  2:8;  ch.  1:16;  19:  15,  21.  '      '        •••■"■"='• 


jecture,  nor  by  fanciful  theories  as  to  the 
signification  of  names. — Who  was  slain 
among  you,  where  Satan  dwelleth.  This 
repeats  the  attribution  of  the  persecuting 
spirit,  with  all  it  instigates,  to  Satan,  and 
shows,  also,  in  what  sense  Antipas  was  a 
faithful  martyr.  It  is  deserving  of  notice 
that  Jesus  terms  him  "my  faithful  martyr." 
14-16.  Keproof  and  Admonition.  I 
have  a  few  things  against  thee.  The 
phrase,  "a  few  things,"  is  not  to  be  taken 
as  depreciating  the  importance  of  this  which 
is  soon  to  be  mentioned  in  terms  of  re- 
proof; but  only  as  suggesting  that  the  things 
to  be  blamed  were  few,  in  comparison  with 
the  things  to  be  approved.  Though  "few," 
they  were,  nevertheless,  of  vital  consequence, 
as  soon  appears. — Because  thou  hast  there 
them  that  hold  the  doctrine  of  Balaam. 
— Those  who  resembled  Balaam  in  their  own 
conduct,  and  in  the  practices  which  they  both 
indulged  and  encouraged.  It  is  clearly  im- 
plied that  these  persons  were  in  the  Perga- 
mean  Church,  and  tolerated  there.  This 
marks  a  point  of  material  difference  between 
this  church  and  the  Church  at  Ephe.sus,  which, 
though  it  had  declined  in  spirituality,  still  did 
not  allow  pernicious  errors  of  this  kind  in  its 
own  body. — Who  taught  Balak  to  cast  a 
stumbling-block  before  the  children  of 
Israel.  This  "counsel  of  Balaam"  is  men- 
tioned at  Num.  31 :  16,  where  we  find  Moses 
saying  to  "the  officers  of  the  host,"  and  in 
allusion  to  the  women  of  Moab  and  Midian  : 
"Behold  these  caused  the  children  of  Israel, 
through  the  counsel  of  Balaam,  to  commit 
trespass  against  the  Lord,"  etc.  It  is  true  that 
Balak's  name  is  not  mentioned  here;  yet  as 
the  previous  history  .shows  the  two  in  confed- 
eracy against  Israel,  and  as  the  king  would  be 
the  most  natural  person  to  confer  with  upon 
a  matter  of  policy  like  this,  the  necessary  im- 
plication is  that  to  Balak  Balaam  gave  his 
iniquitous  counsel.  What  is  thus  implied  in 
the  Scripture  narrative,  Josephus  (Ant.  iv., 


6,  6),  expressly  states,  viz.,  that  when  leaving 
Balak,  after  what  is  narrated  in  Num.  23  and 
24,  Balaam  gave  this  advice  to  Balak  and  to 
the  princes  of  Midian.  The  advice  was  that 
the  Moabite  and  Midianite  women  should  be 
used  as  instruments  to  draw  the  Israelites  into 
idolatrous  practices,  and  into  other  forms  of 
criminal  intercourse ;  that  thus  they  might 
incur  the  divine  anger  and  be  cut  off  in  pun- 
ishment.— To  eat  things  sacrificed  unto 
idols,  and  to  commit  fornication.  That 
is,  to  join  with  these  heathen  tribes  in  idol- 
atrous feasts  with  the  accompanying  immoral- 
ities. There  were  those  at  Pergamos,  and 
even  in  the  Pergamean  Church,  who  justi- 
fied and  encouraged  like  intercourse  on  the 
part  of  Chri.stians  with  the  heathen  in  that 
city. 

15.  So  hast  thou  also  them  that  hold 
the  doctrine  of  the  Nicolaitanes,  which 
things  I  hate.  The  words,  "which  things  I 
hate,"  are  not  in  either  the  Sinaitic  or  the 
Alexandrine  manuscript.  Tischendorf,  there- 
fore, omits  them.  In  place  of  "  which  I  hate" 
(6  fiio-m),  N.  A,  B,  C,  and  other  manuscripts 
have,  "in  like  manner"  (a/noiws).  How  the 
change  was  made  in  copying  is  clear  from  the 
resemblance  in  form  of  the  words,  and  from 
the  fact  of  the  occurrence  of  the  former  phrase 
in  a  similar  connection  above.  The  verse 
.should  read:  "So  hast  thou  also  in  like  man- 
ner them  that  hold  the  doctrine  (or  teaching) 
of  the  Nicolaitanes."  The  "in  like  manner" 
here,  must  refer  to  ancient  Israel,  and  the  sin, 
as  just  described,  into  which  it  fell.  Just  as, 
through  the  iniquitous  confederacy  of  the 
false  prophet  Balaam  and  the  heathen  king 
Balak,  Israel  was  drawn  into  the  sin  men- 
tioned, so  in  Pergamos  there  were  those,  the 
Nicolaitanes,  who  encouraged  the  very  same 
practices.  These  Nicolaitanes,  in  the  allusion 
to  Balaam,  seem  to  be  spoken  of  generally, 
while  as  Nicolaitanes  they  are  mentioned  by 
the  name  they  actually  bore. 
16.  Repent;  or  else  I  will  come  unto. 


52 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  II. 


17  "He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit 
saitli  uulo  the  churches;  To  hiiii  that  oveicometh  will 
I  give  to  eat  of"  the  hidden  uiauiia,  and  will  give  him  a 
white  stone,  and  in  the  stone  'a  new  name  written, 
which  no  man  knoweth  saving  he  that  receiveth  it. 


mouth.  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the 
Spirit  saith  to  the  churches.  To  him  that  over- 
cometh,  to  him  will  I  give  of  the  hidden  mauua,  and 
1  will  give  him  a  white  stone,  and  upon  the  stone  a 
new  name  written,  which  no  one  knoweth  but  he 
that  receiveth  it. 


over.  7:ll....!>ch.  3:  12;  19:  12. 


thee  quickly,  and  will  fight  against  them 
Avith  the  sword  of  my  mouth.  Not  against 
the  cluirrli,  but  "again.st  them,'''  although  it 
is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  church,  if  con- 
tinuing to  tolerate  so  great  a  wrong  in  its  own 
body,  would  escape.  The  words,  "sword  of 
my  mouth,"  make  clear  the  meaning  of  this 
symbolical  feature  of  the  vision  ot  the  Lord 
as  described  in  ch.  1 :  16.  He  will  come  in  a 
visitation  of  judgment  and  punishment. 

17.  Promise.  The  hidden  manna.  The 
allusion  is  twofold;  to  that  "bread  from 
heaven"  which  "Moses  gave"  —  or  God 
through  Moses — in  the  wilderness;  and  to 
that  preserved  portion  of  the  manna  which 
was  kept  so  long  after  in  the  Ark  of  the  Cov- 
enant.— And  Avill  give  him  a  white  stone. 
We  prefer,  upon  the  whole,  to  regard  the 
allusion  here  as  classic,  and  not  Hebraic,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  manna.  Or  rather,  it  may  be 
treated  as  both  the  one  and  the  other;  since 
there  is  no  reason  why  the  practice  referred 
to  may  not  have  been  general,  and  among 
Jews  as  well  as  Gentiles.  This  was  the  prac- 
tice, as  Alford,  following  Bengel  and  Duster- 
dieck,  states  it,  "of  using  small  stones,  in- 
scribed with  writing,  for  various  purposes"; 
or,  as  Hengstenberg:  "The  antiquarian  ele- 
ment that  comes  here  into  consideration  is 
simply  the  fact  that  in  ancient  times  they 
were  wont  to  write  much  on  small  stones. 
To  the  new  glorious  name,"  he  adds,  "corre- 
sponds the  white  stone."  Dr.  Vaughan,  late 
of  the  Middle  Temple  in  London,  says:  "I 
suppose  a  new,  clean,  bright  stone,  unused 
before,  with  something  cut  upon  it;  a  new 
name,  intelligible  only  to  the  owner,  a  secret 
between  him  and  the  giver,  a  name  of  honor 
and  of  happiness,  a  promotion  and  a  glory  to 
the  bearer,  in  which  none  can  intermeddle, 
and  of  which  none  can  deprive  him.  I  would 
understand  the  promise  thus  simply,  and  not 
lose  myself  in  a  multitude  of  conflicting  ideas 
whicli  the  words,  taken  singly,  might  intro- 
duce." Various  ancient  customs  have  been 
singled  out  by  different  writers,  as  alluded  to 
in   the   mention  of  tlie  white   stone;    as   the 


tessera — given  to  the  victor  in  the  Olympic 
games — a  stone  on  which  was  inscribed  the 
reward  he  should  receive  from  his  native 
city;  the  white  and  black  balls  used  by  the 
Greeks  in  pronouncing  the  acquittal  or  con- 
demnation of  persons  on  trial ;  the  stones  in 
the  breastplate  of  the  Jewish  high-priest, 
etc.  It  is  better  to  take  the  allusion  as  a 
general  one,  without  attempting  to  fix  specific 
meanings  that  are  no  way  indicated  in  the 
text. — And  in  [upon]  the  stone  a  new  name 
written,  which  no  man  knoweth  saving 
he  that  receiveth  it.  The  "new  name" 
we  take  to  be  the  name  of  the  person  to  whom 
the  white  stone  is  given.  Of  the  significance 
of  this  whole  promise,  with  its  striking  and 
beautiful  imagery,  we  speak  below. 

GENERAL   COMMENTS. 

No  reason,  quite  satisfactory,  it  would  ap- 
pear, suggests  itself  why  Pergamos  .should 
have  had  the  evil  eminence  spoken  of  in 
the  first  part  of  this  message,  or  letter.  The 
mention  of  it  as  "Satan's  throne,"  clearly 
implies  that  in  that  whole  region  it  Avas 
noted  as  a  centre  of  antichristian  influence, 
manifesting  itself  in  persecution.  No  par- 
ticular form  of  idolatrous  worship  can  have 
been  the  cause  of  this,  as  Ephesus  was  quite 
as  much  devoted  to  the  worship  of  Diana, 
as  Pergamos  to  that  of  ^sculapius.  As  a 
pagan  literary  centre  it  may  have  been  the 
more  predisposed  to  resist  Christianity;  yet 
there  seems  in  this  fact  no  especial  reason 
why  this  resistance  should  assume  a  violent 
form.  The  fiict  named  was  probably  due  to 
sinister  j^f^'sonal  influence  of  some  kind. 

Hengstenberg,  in  arguing  for  his  view  that 
Antipas  must  be  understood  as  a  name  for 
Timothy,  with  a  symbolical  meaning  in  it, 
observes  that  "all  other  names  in  the  Apoc- 
alyp.se  are  .symbolical."  This  is  certalnlj^  a 
mistake.  The  names  of  these  seven  churches 
are  surely  not  so.  The  names  of  Balaam  and 
Balak,  occurring  almost  in  the  connection, 
are  at  least  historical  names;  and  it  is  by  no 
means  clear  that  either  of  them   is  used  in 


Ch.  II.] 


REVELATION. 


53 


18  And  unto  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Thyatira 
write;  These  things  saith  the  Son  of  (iml,  "wlio  liath 
his  eyes  like  unto  a  tlauie  of  tire,  and  his  feet  are  like 
line  bniss. 

19  ''I  know  thy  works,  and  charity,  and  service,  and 
faith,  and  thy  patience,  and  thy  works;  and  the  last 
to  be  more  than  the  first. 


18  And  to  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Thyatira  write; 
These  things  saith  the  Son  of  God,  who  hath  his 
eyes  like  a  tlaiue  of  tire,  and  his  feet  are  like  unto 

19  burnished  brass:  I  know  thy  works,  and  thy  love 
and  faith  and  ministry  and  i  patience,  and  that  thy 


a  cb.  1 :  14.  15 h  ver.  2. 1  Or,  sted/astness. 


this  place  in  any  other  than  a  plain,  historical 
sense.  The  mention  of  Antipas,  as  a  person 
bearing  this  name,  in  the  traditions  of  the 
early  church,  favors  the  view  that  the  name 
must  be  taken  here  just  as  it  stands;  which 
is  also  the  safer  course,  and  far  more  con- 
sistent with  the  rules  of  sound  interpretation. 

In  connection  with  "the  hidden  manna" 
and  "the  white  stone,"  arises  a  question  as  to 
the  exact  force  of  the  word,  "overcometh." 
Shall  it  be  taken  as  alluding  to  the  final  over- 
coming of  the  Christian  believer,  as  he  enters 
heaven?  Or  does  it,  at  least,  include  the  over- 
coming of  ripening  Christian  experience  in 
the  present  life?  It  is  quite  clear  that  the 
watchfulness  and  the  spiritual  struggle  en- 
joined in  the  admonitions  of  this  message  to 
this  church,  as  also  in  each  of  the  others,  is  a 
present  one.  Temptation,  hindrance,  spiri- 
tual exposure  in  manj'  kinds,  are  the  subject 
of  the  warning,  and  the  injunction  is  that 
these  shall  be  encountered  and  overcome. 
The  phrase  itself,  also,  in  the  Greek  properly 
means,  "to  him  who  is  conquering,"  engaged 
in  a  conflict  not  yet  ended,  though  over- 
coming. There  is  to  be,  in  each  case  no 
doubt,  a  final  overcoming,  but  also  one  in 
the  present  time.  It  seems  to  us  that  the 
whole  meaning  of  this  rich  passage  is  ade- 
quately seized  only  as  we  view  it  in  appli- 
cation to  the  entire  course  of  a  Christian's 
experience  from  the  moment  of  his  conver- 
sion, on  to  the  consummation  of  his  Christian 
life  in  heaven.  Thus  "the  hidden  manna" 
will  mean  the  spiritual  sustenance,  comfort, 
inspiration,  which  a  Christian  realizes  in  his 
progress  in  divine  life,  in  usefulness,  and  in 
meetness  for  heaven — especially  communion 
with  his  Saviour,  who  said  of  himself,  "I  am 
that  bread  from  heaven" — and  which  reaches 
its  highest  perfection  in  the  final  saved  state. 
It  is  "hidden,"  as  being  so  entirely  unknown 
to  the  world,  and  even  comprehensible  only 
through  experience. 

In  like  manner  "the  white  stone"  should 
be  viewed  as  the  personal  evidence  a  Christian 
has,  given  him  in  conversion,  and  intended  to 


be  cherished  by  him  all  his  life  after  as  the 
testimony  and  pledge  of  his  acceptance  "in 
the  Beloved."  The  name  written  there  is 
his  own  name;  that  no  one  knoweth  it  save 
himself,  alludes  to  the  fact  that  the  personal 
evidence  of  a  Christian  soul  is  a  matter  so 
entirely  between  that  soul  and  its  Saviour, 
and  in  its  essence  so  incommunicable  to  any 
other.  In  the  final  overcoming,  "the  hidden 
manna,"  upon  foretastes  of  which  his  spir- 
itual life  here  has  been  sustained,  becomes 
the  fullness  and  perfection  of  heavenlj'  good; 
and  "the  white  stone,"  that  personal  assur- 
ance of  faith  and  hope  which  has  sustained 
him  in  many  a  conflict  of  temptation  and 
doubt,  becomes  the  complete  assurance  of 
fulfilled  divine  promise  and  pledge. 

How  tirm  a  foundation,  ye  saints  of  the  Lord, 
Is  laid  for  your  faith  in  his  excellent  word ! 

What  more  can  he  say  than  to  you  he  hath  said — 
You  who  unto  Jesus  for  refuge  have  tied? 

18-28.    To  THE  Church  in  Thyatira. 

18.  Inscription.     The  Son  of  God.    In 

the  vision  he  is  described  as  "one  like  unto 
the  Son  of  man."  Here  he  terms  himself 
"the  Son  of  God."  We  view  him  aright, 
therefore,  only  as  we  see  in  him  both  these— 
the  God-man. — Who  hath  his  eyes  like 
unto  a  flame  of  fire.  As  in  the  other  cases, 
that  feature  of  the  vision  (i :  lais)  is  chosen 
which  has  an  especial  fitness  to  the  tenor  of 
the  message.  'The  symbolism  implies  that 
searching  and  consuming  divine  observation 
in  which  the  evil  in  men  is  both  seen  as  it  is, 
and  requited  as  it  deserves. — And  his  feet 
are  like  fine  brass.  Diisterdieck  says: 
"The  two  descriptions,  taken  from  1:  14,  15, 
have  their  meaning  in  this:  that  the  Lord 
with  his  flaming  eye  perfectly  perceives  [pier- 
ces straight  through,  richtig  dui'chdringt]  all 
things,  and  with  his  feet  like  brass  tramples 
down  everything  unclean  and  hostile  [alles 
Unreine  und  Feindselige  zo'tritt].'" 

19.  Commendation.  I  know  thy  Avorks, 
and  charity  [love],  and  service,  and  faith, 
and   thy  patience,  and   thy  works  ;  and 


54 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  II. 


20  Xotwithstanding  I  have  a  few  tilings  against  tliee, 
because  thou  suli'erest  that  woman  "Jezebel,  which 
callelli  herself  a  prophetess,  to  teach  and  to  seduce  my 
servants  '■to  coinniit  foruiciitiou,  and  to  eat  things 
sacrificed  unto  idols. 


20  last  works  are  more  than  the  first.  But  I  have  this 
against  thee,  that  thou  sutlerest  'the  woman  Jezebel, 
who  calleth  herself  a  prophetess;  and  she  teacheth 
and  seduceth  my  servants  to  commit   fornication, 


a  1  Kings  16:  31;  21:  25;  2  Kiiigj  9 :  7.... 6  Ex.34:  15;  Acl«  15 :  20.  29;  1  Cor.  10:  19,20; 

uncieut,  reud  thy  wife. 


i\  14. 1  Many  ituttioi'iiics,  some 


the  last  to  be  more  than  the  first.     As 

Tisfhendorf  finally  settle.s  the  text,  the  trans- 
lation should  stand:  "I  know  thy  works,  and 
love,  and  faith,  and  service,  and  patience; 
and  thy  la,st  works  [to  be]  more  than  the 
first."  In  the  common  version  the  clause, 
"thy  works,"  is  repeated  in  a  way,  mainly 
through  a  false  punctuation,  to  make  the  rea- 
son and  force  of  the  repetition  altogether  ob- 
scure. Some  manuscripts  omit  the  word  for 
"service";  but  Tischendorf  retains  it,  placing 
it,  however,  after  faith,  instead  of  before  it. 


tendant  spiritual  graces,  no  doubt — to  some 
extent,  at  least — had  declined.  Here  they  had 
increased,  rather,  so  that  the  "last  works," 
the  love,  faith,  service,  patience,  were  "more 
than  the  first,"  more  than  at  the  beginning. 

20-23.  Repkoof  and  Threatening. 
Notwithstanding  I  have  a  few  things 
against  thee.  Here,  again,  the  manuscripts 
ditier;  some  reading,  "I  have  a  few  thing.s," 
some,  "I  have  much,"  others,  simplj',  "I 
have  against  thee,"  meaning,  "I  have  this 
against  thee."      This  is  the  reading  of  the 


THYATIRA. 


The  "works"  specified,  therefore,  stand  in 
groups — love  and  faith,  service  and  patience. 
These  seem  to  be  the  works  alluded  to,  the 
specifications  being  epexegetical,  or  explana- 
tory, as  if  the  phrase  read,  "I  know  thy 
works,  even  thy  love,"  etc.  "We  should  read 
"love"  {aya-nriv)  instead  of  "charity,"  which 
latter  word  has  acquired  a  meaning,  implied 
indeed  in  the  Greek  one,  but  by  no  means 
properly  expressing  it.  The  last  part  of  the 
verse  indicates  that  the  Church  in  Thyatira 
wa-;  found  in  a  condition  contrasted  with  that 
at  Ejihesus.     There  the  "love,"  with  its  at- 


Alexandrine  and  Vatican  manuscripts,  to- 
gether with  C  and  P,  which  Tischendorf  here 
follows. — ^Because  [thatl  thou  sulfercst 
that  woman  Jezebel.  There  may  be  dan- 
ger of  making  too  much  of  the  fact  that  the 
evil  noted  in  the  Church  at  Thyatira  is  sym- 
bolized under  the  name  of  a  woman.  There 
may  be  no  other  rea.son  for  this  than  that 
Jezebel,  the  wife  of  Ahab,  was  an  iiistrument 
in  leading  the  ancient  Israel  into  the  same 
evil  practices  into  which,  by  the  instigation 
of  Balaam  and  Balak,  the  jH'ople  had  fallen 
while  on  their  wilderness  journey,  so  long 


Ch.  II.] 


REVELATION. 


55 


21  Aud  I  gave  her  space  "to  rejjeut  of  her  fornica- 
tion; and  she  repeutgd  not. 

22  Behold,  I  will  east  her  into  a  bed,  and  them  tliat 
conmiit  adultery  with  her  into  great  tribulation,  except 
they  repent  of  their  deeds. 


21  and  to  eat  things  sacrificed  to  idols.  And  I  gave  her 
time  that  she  should  repent;   and  she  willeth  not  to 

22  repent  of  her  t<jruicati<Mi.  Behold,  1  do  cast  her  into 
a  bed,  and  them  that  commit  adultery  with  her  into 
great  tribulation,  e.vcept  they  repent  of  i  her  works. 


a  Rom.  2:4;  nh.  9:  20.- 


.  Many  aocieiit  uuthnritie^  read  theii 


before,  and  which  now  characterized  the 
sect  of  the  Nicolaitanes.  As  indicated  be- 
low, this  same  disgraceful  and  pernicious  sect 
had  appeared  at  Thj'atira.  There  can  be  no 
harm,  however,  in  noting  as  a  matter  of 
history  that  the  first  Thyatiran  Christian 
of  whom  we  read  was  a  woman.  It  is  re- 
lated in  Acts  16:  14,  15,  how  Lydia,  "a  seller 
of  purple,  of  the  city  of  Thyatira,"  when  the 
Lord  opened  her  heart  under  the  preaching 
of  Paul  at  Philippi,  was  converted,  -and 
became,  as  the  narrative  shows,  a  zealous  and 
active  disciple.  Thyatira  had  been  founded 
by  a  Macedonian  colony ;  and  by  this  fact 
and  the  relations  hence  naturally  subsisting 
between  Thyatira  and  Philippi,  the  presence 
of  Lydia  in  the  latter  place  is  explained. 
She  was  there,  however,  as  is  evident,  for 
l^urposes  of  trade  alone,  and  not  as  a  change 
of  home.  Hence,  as  Conybeare  and  Howson 
say:  "The  direct  influence  of  Lydia  may  be 
supposed  to  have  contributed  more  to  the 
establishment  of  the  Church  at  Thyatira, 
addressed  by  St.  John,  than  to  that  of  Phil- 
ippi, which  received  the  letter  of  St.  Paul." 
"Whether  Lydia,  returning  to  her  Asiatic 
home,  actually  founded  there  the  Church 
of  Thyatira,  cannot,  of  course,  be  directly 
inferred  from  any  of  these  circumstances; 
yet  the  probability  of  it  may  perhaps  be 
assumed.  To  identify  Lydia  herself  with 
Jezebel  of  our  present  text,  as  is  done  by 
Heinrich,  quoted  by  Diiiterdieck,  is  to  vio- 
late all  the  probabilities  of  the  case — the 
whdle  account  of  the  conversion  of  Lydia 
indicating  the  reality  of  her  devotion  to  the 
truth.  It  would  seem  much  more  likely  that 
those  better  elements  in  the  church  of  which 
such  approving  mention  is  made  in  ver.  19, 
were  due  to  her  personal  influence.  We 
must  think,  however,  that  the  name  Jezebel 
as  here  used,  indicates,  not  so  much  a  sect,  as 
a  person,  as  will  be  noticed  in  the  comment 
upon  ver.  22  below.  Some  manuscripts  have, 
instead  of  "the  woman,  or  that  woman,  (t^i* 

yvfaiifa^"    "thy  wifc,   (rrji' yvi/aifca  erou). "       Heng- 

stenberg  and  Alford  prefer  this  latter  read- 
ing; Tischendorf  and  Diisterdieck  the  former. 


It  seems  to  us  the  safer  reading  to  follow; 
— Which    calleth    herself  a    prophetess. 

This  person,  evidently,  made  pretensions  to 
divine  inspiration.  As  at  Ephesus  the  false 
teachers  called  themselves  "apostles,"  so 
this  one  at  Thyatira  called  herself  a  proph- 
etess. At  a  time  when  the  presence  of  in- 
spired men  in  the  churches  was  even  still, 
to  some  extent,  enjoyed,  and  when  the 
memory  and  effect  of  the  apostolic  ministry 
as  a  whole  was  still  vivid,  false  teachers 
would  gain  most  ready  access  to  the  con- 
fidence of  the  people  by  pretending  to  a 
like  inspiration. — To  teach  and  seduce  my 
servants  to  commit  fornication,  and  to 
eat  things  sacrificed  unto  idols.  The 
identity  of  this  with  what  was  occurring  at 
Ephesus  and  Smyrna,  is  evident  at  a  glance. 

21.  And  I  gave  her  space  to  repent  of 
her  fornication  ;  and  she  repented  not. 
The  reading  of  the  Sinaitic  manuscript  is: 
"And  I  gave  her  space  [time,  oppoi-tunitij] 
that  she  might  repent;  and  she  is  not  willing 
to  repent  of  her  fornication."  The  difterence 
in  the  readings  is  partly  in  the  order  of  the 
clauses  in  the  sentence,  and  partly  in  the 
change  of  tense  in  the  last  clause.  The 
words  indicate  the  divine  long-sufl^ering,  as 
exercised  even  toward  one  whose  influence 
was  so  pernicious  and  dishonoring. 

22.  Behold,  I  will  cast  her  into  a  bed, 
and  them  that  commit  adultery  with  her 
into  great  tribulation,  except  they  re- 
pent of  their  deeds.  The  language  here 
seems  quite  clearly  to  show  that  the  name 
Jezebel  is  used  for  a  person,  rather  than  for 
a  sect,  or  for  a  party  in  the  church.  Those 
associated  with  the  sect,  would,  of  course,  be 
those  composing  the  sect — that  is  to  say,  the 
very  sect  itself.  The  distinction,  therefore, 
which  the  words,  "those  who  commit  adul- 
tery with  her"  imply,  can  be  a  real  one,  only 
as  we  suppose  the  name  Jezebel  to  be  used  for 
the  leader  of  the  sect,  and.  as  indicated  above, 
a  woman.  The  word  "adultery"  in  the  pas- 
sage must  be  taken  in  part,  no  doubt,  in  the 
spiritual  sense  so  common,  especially  in  the 
Old   Testament,  as   in  Ezek.  23:37:    "With 


56 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  II. 


23  And  I  will  kill  her  children  with  death;  and  all 
the  churches  shall  know  that  "  I  am  he  which  searcheth 
the  reins  and  hearts:  and  ''I  will  give  unto  every  one 
of  you  according  to  vuur  works. 

24  But  unto  you  I  say,  and  unto  the  rest  in  Thyatira, 
as  nianv  as  have  not  tliis  doctrine,  and  which  have  not 
knownthe  depths  of  Satan,  as  they  speak;  "^I  will  put 
upon  vou  none  other  burden. 

2.5  But  •'that  which  ye  have  already,  hold  fast  till  I 
come. 

26  And  he  that  overcometh,  and  keepeth  «my  works 
unto  the  end,  /to  him  will  I  give  power  over  the 
nations: 


23  And  I  will  kill  her  children  w^ith  i  death ;  and  all  the 
churches  shall  know  that  I  am  he  who  searcheth  the 
reins  and  hearts:  and  I  will  give  unto  each  one  of 

24  you  according  to  your  works.  But  to  you  I  say,  to 
the  rest  that  are  in  Thyatira,  as  many  as  have  not 
this  teaching,  who  know  not  the  deep  things  of 
Satan,  as  they  say;   1  cast  upon  you  none  other  bur- 

2.5  den.     llowheit  tluit  which  ye   have,  hold  fast  till  I 

2G  coine.   And  he  that  oveicouieth,  and  he  lliat  keepeth 

my  works  unto  the  end,  to  him  will  I  give  authority 


a\  Sum.  16:  7;  1  Chr.  28:9;  29:  17;  2Chr.fi:  30;  P-<.  7  ;  9 ;  Jer.  11:  20;  17.  10;  20:  12;  John  2  :  24 ;  25;  Aot.s  1:  24;  Rom.  8:  27. 

....6  Pa.  62:  12;  Muit.  16:  27;  R"mi.  2:6;  14:  12;  2  ('.u-.  5 :  W;  G!il.6:5;  ch.20:  12 c  Acts  15 :  2S....d  uli.  3    ll....e  Jobii  6: 

29 ;  1  Johu  3 :  23 /  MiiU.  19 :  28 ;  Luke  22 :  29,  30  ;  1  Cor.  6:3;  cti.  3  :  21;  2U :  4. 1  Or,  pestilence. 


their  idols  have  they  committed  adultery"; 
that  is  to  say,  in  the  sense  of  forbidden  inter- 
course of  those  professing  to  be  the  Lord's 
people  with  idolaters,  or  rather,  their  own 
idolatrous  practices.  Still,  lewd  vices  seem 
to  have  been  among  the  things  encouraged 
and  practiced  by  this  sect,  under  the  instiga- 
tion of  its  leader.  Continuance  in  those  things, 
it  is  threatened,  shall  be  visited  with  punish- 
ment. As  Bengel  says:  "From  the  bed  of 
infamy  they  shall  be  brought  to  a  sick-bed  of 
pain."  The  true  reading  is:  "If  they  do  not 
repent  of  her  [not  their]  works,"  or  deeds. 
They  are  to  repent,  not,  of  course,  for  her; 
but  on  account  of  their  own  participation 
with  her  in  the  evil  condemned. 

23.  And  I  Avill  kill  her  children  with 
[lit.  "t«"]  death;  and  all  the  churches 
shall  know  that  I  am  he  which  searcheth 
the  reins  and  hearts ;  and  I  will  give 
unto  every  one  of  you  according  to  your 
works.  It  is  a  que.stion  whether  in  speaking 
of  "her  children,"  here,  any  di.stinction  is 
implied,  as  indicating  a  class  different  from 
those  spoken  of  in  the  previous  verse;  that  is, 
whether  by  tho.se  threatened  in  ver.  22  shall 
be  understood  such  in  the  church  as  allowed 
these  practices  to  go  unrebuked,  and  by  those 
mentioned  in  ver.  23  such  as  were  members 
of  this  sect,  or  party,  itself,  and  so,  in  a  sense, 
children  of  this  new  Jezebel.  To  some 
extent  this  distinction  may  be  a  just  one. 
The  former  verse  may  include  all  who  in  any 
manner  favor  or  suffer  this  enormity  in  the 
Thyatiran  community;  the  latter,  those  who 
are  more  intimately  associated  with,  and  par. 
takers  in,  the  evil  itself  The  object  of  the 
punishment,  especially  in  the  former  case, 
will  be  disciplinary  and  corrective;  that  "all 
the  churches"  may  "know"  that  one  reigns 
in  Zion  who  "  is  of  purer  eyes  " — for  his  eyes 
are   "as    a   flame   of   lire"— than   to  behold 


with  approbation,  or  to  tolerate  such  wicked- 
ness. He  "searcheth  the  reins  and  hearts" — 
"a  designation,"  says  Alford,  "for  the  whole 
inner  parts  of  man."  The  concluding  words 
of  the  verse  cover  the  whole  connection  of 
the  passage,  and  are  an  admonition  that  upon 
this  principle  the  Church  at  Thyatira,  and  all 
the  churches,  must  expect  to  be  dealt  with. 

24-39.  The  Promisk.  But  unto  you  I 
say,  etc.  The  more  correct  translation,  ac- 
cording to  the  amended  text,  will  stand  thus: 
But  unto  you  I  say,  to  the  rest  in  Thyatira, 
as  many  as  have  not  [hold  not]  this  doctrine, 
who  have  not  known  the  depths  of  Satan,  as 
they  speak,  I  will  put  upo?i  you  none  other 
burden— connecting  the  verse  following  (25) 
with  th'\s~except  [this]  what  ye  have,  holdfast 
till  I  come. — The  word  "and"  in  the  common 
version,  "and  unto  the  rest" — is  not  in  the 
Greek,  and  besides,  gives  a  wrong  impression. 
The  second  clause  in  the  ver.-^e,  "to  the  rest," 
etc.,  is  explanatory  of  the  fir.st,  being  in  appo- 
sition with  it.  The  faithful  ones  in  Thyatira 
are  the  "you,"  the  phrase,  "the  rest  in  Thya- 
tira," being  in  apposition.  They  accordingly 
receive  this  charge,  simply,  that  "  whereto  we 
have  already  attained,  let  us  walk  by  the 
.same  rule,  let  us  mind  the  same  thing" 
(Phil.  3:16).  By  "burdcu"  must  be  meant  sim- 
ply charge,  injunction;  not  that  this  implies 
what  is  burdensome,  but  only  that  it  is  con- 
tra.sted  with  what  is  appointed  to  the  unfaith- 
ful. The  words,  "till  I  come,"  or,  "till  I 
shall  c(mie,"  can  have  specific  reference  to 
our  Lord's  second  coming  only  .so  far  as  this, 
that  here  as  elsewhere  that  coming  is  set  forth 
as  the  ultimate  objective  point  of  Christian 
anticipation. 

20.  And  he  that  overcometh,  and  keep- 
eth my  works  unto  the  end.  The  latter 
part  of  this  clause  suggests  the  breadth  of 
meaning  implied  in  the  "overcoming."     To 


Ch.  II.] 


REVELATION. 


57 


27  "And  he  shall  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  irou;  as 
the  vessels  of  a  potter  shall  they  be  broken  to  shivers; 
even  as  1  received  of  my  Father". 

'2S  And  I  will  give  him  'the  morning  star. 

29  "He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit 
saith  unto  the  churches. 


27  over  the  nations:   and  he  shall  rule  them  with  a  rod 
•  of  Mron,  as  the  vessels  of  the  potter  are  broken  to 

28  shivers;   as  I  also  have  received  of  my  I-'ather:   and 

29  I  will  give  him  the  morning  star.  He  that  hath 
an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  to  the 
churches. 


iPs.  2:8,  9;  49 :  li  ;  hvi 


:  22;  ch.  12  :  5  ;  19:  16.. 


.b  2  Pft.  1 :  19  ;  ch.  22  .  16. . .  .c  ver.  7.- 
are  they  broken. 


on;  as  vessels  of  the  potter. 


overcome,  is  not  simply  to  triumph  at  last, 
but,  as  ill  a  very  important  sense  conditional 
to  this,  to  overcome  daily  and  continuously, 
by  keeping  the  Lord's  "works" — faithfully 
following  and  obeying — "unto  the  end."  — 
To  him  will  I  give  power  over  the  na- 
tions. A  distinction  should  be  made,  here, 
between  the  Greek  "power"  (i^ova-ia)  in  the 
sense  of  authority  (which  is  the  word  in  this 
place)  and  "power"  (SOra/ms)  in  the  sense  of 
force,  or  strength.  With  this  .should  be  taken 
the  proper  emphasis  of  the  Greek  in  what 
follows. 

27.  And  he  shall  rule  [shepherd]  noifiavet 
them.  The  true  sense  and  scope  of  the  pas- 
sage is  also  better  seen  by  still  connecting 
these  words  with  the  concluding  words  of  the 
verse,  as  I  have  received  of  my  Father. 
That  is  to  say,  that  "power,"  authority,  which 
the  Son  has  received  of  the  Father  "over  the 
nations,"  by  which  must  be  meant  the  world 
as  di.stinct  from  the  kingdom  of  grace,  he  im- 
parts to,  or  shares  with,  those  who  "keep"  his 
"works,"  who  are  "with"  him,  and  gather 
with  him  (m:iu.  i2:30). — With  a  rod  of  iron. 
The  word  here  "rod"  (pa^5o?),  is  the  same 
which  the  Septuagint  u.ses  in  the  twenty-third 
Psalm,  "thy  rod  and  thy  staff."  In  that  place 
the  word  translated  "staff"  does  not  mean 
that  which  we  commonly  indicate  by  the 
shepherd's  staff,  but  rather  the  staff,  or  cane 
used  for  support  in  walking.  The  "rod"  is 
that  staff  of  the  shepherd  which  is  the  symbol 
of  his  rule  over  the  flock.  So  here.  The 
"rod"  is  simply  the  shepherd's  staff,  as  is  fur- 
ther indicated  by  the  word  "shall  shepherd" 
(irotfioi'ei)  already  noticed.  It  is  a  staff  of 
"iron"  as  indicating  the  .severity  of  the  rule 
thus  symbolized.  Not,  however,  the  severity 
of  mere  force,  least  of  all  of  force  exercised 
in  the  mere  interest  of  authority  ;  not  the  rule 
of  the  despot,  but  of  the  shepherd. — ^As  the 
vessels  of  a  potteT  shall  they  be  broken 
to  shivers.  Which  only  means,  so  far  as 
they  oppose  themselves  to  his  advancing 
kingdom.  Their  resistance  shall  be  com- 
pletely overcome,  and  the  hostile  forces  they 


use  in-  their  opposition  shall  be  "broken  to 
shivers."  This  is  in  some  sense  repeating  the 
idea  in  verse  18.  The  feet  of  brass  are  to 
trample  down  enmity  and  resistance.  Tlie 
breaking  to  pieces  will  be  by  the  L(jrd's  own 
divine  power;  but  this  power  will  work 
through  his  people,  and  thus,  to  them,  the  in- 
struments, he  imparts  this  power.  This  is  a 
part  of  their  reward,  in  the  overcoming. 

28.  And  I  will  give  him  the  morning 
star.  It  is  better  to  connect  this  with  former 
words  of  promise,  as  in  verse  7,  or  in  verse  17, 
especially  the  promise  of  "the  white  stone" 
in  the  latter,  than  with  Isa.  14:  12,  or  even  with 
Eev.  22 :  16.  In  the  latter  place,  Christ  says 
of  himself:  "I  am  ....  the  bright  and 
the  morning  star."  It  is  a  forced  interpre- 
tation, to  make  our  present  passage  antici- 
patory of  a  symbolism  occurring  so  much 
later  in  the  book ;  besides  that,  it  is  inconsistent 
with  the  general  style  of  the  .symbolism  here, 
to  make  the  words  before  us  equivalent  to, 
"I  will  give  him  myself."  It  is  more  fitting, 
every  way,  to  understand  the  words,  "I  will 
give  him  the  morning  star,"  as  referring,  like 
the  other  words,  "I  will  give  him  a  white 
stone,"  to  some  special  characteristic  of  Cliris- 
tian  experience,  so  precious  as  to  be  accounted 
the  rich  reward  of  fidelity.  So  viewing  it, 
the  symbolism  becomes  less  obscure.  The 
morning  star  is  the  signal  of  the  dawn,  the 
herald  and  promise  of  the  full  day.  To  him 
that  overcometh  shall  be  given,  in  personal 
experience,  that  spiritual  assurance  and  satis- 
faction which  shall  be  to  him  light  out  of  the 
darkness,  the  forerunner  and  pledge  of  "the 
perfect  day."  The  thought  may  also  be  in- 
cluded to  which  Diisterdieck  points,  when  he 
says:  "The  conqueror  shines  in  the  brightness 
of  the  morning  star,  because  he  has  it  in  his 
possession,  just  as  the  precious  jewel  lends  its 
own  brightness  to  him  who  wears  it." 

He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear,  etc. 
In  this  and  the  remainder  of  these  messages 
to  the  churches,  the  call  to  attention  is  placed 
after,  instead  of  before,  the  concluding  words 
of  promise,  as  in  the  three  first. 


58 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  hi. 


CHAPTEK   III. 


AND  unto  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Sardis  write; 
These  thing's  saith  he  "that  hatli  tlie  seven  Spirits 
of  (iod,  and  tlie  seven  stars;  i-l  know  thy  works,  that 
thou  liast  a  name  that  thou  livest,  '^and  art  dead. 


And  to  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Sardis  write  ; 

These  things  saith  he  that  hatli  the  .seven  Spirits 
of  God,  and  the  seven  stars:  I  know  thy  works,  that 
thou  hast  a  name  that  thou  livest,  and  thou  art  dead. 


a  ch.  1 ;  4,  16;  4:5;  5:6 6  ch.  2  :  2 e  Ephes.  2:  1,  5;  1  Tim.  5:  6. 


GEXERAL    COMMENTS. 

The  introduction  of  the  name  Jezebel,  in 
allu.sion  to  the  wife  of  Ahab,  and  the  possible 
connection  of  Lydia  with  the  early  history 
of  the  Thyatiran  Church,  are  suggestive  of 
the  very  considerable  power,  for  evil  or  for 
good,  which  women  have  had  in  history, 
and  not  least  of  all  in  the  history  of  the 
church.  Instances  will  readily  occur  to  those 
familiar  even  in  a  moderate  degree  with  this 
history,  and  need  not  be  cited  here.  The 
special  mention  made,  however,  in  the  Acts, 
of  the  conversion  of  Lydia  and  her  house- 
hold, seems  to  warrant  us  in  assuming  a 
significance  for  that  incident  not  wholly 
foreign  to  the  present  subject.  If  the  active 
share  which  Lj'dia  may  have  had  in  the 
founding  of  the  Church  at  Thyatira,  by  mak- 
ing female  influence  prominent  in  the  early 
his;ory  of  that  church,  to  some  extent  opened 
a  way  for  the  pretended  "prophetess"  who 
brought  in  a  heresy  so  pernicious,  we  may 
at  the  same  time  believe  that  a  more  direct 
effect  of  that  influence  would  be  the  fidelity 
in  resisting  this  heresy,  on  the  part  of  faithful 
ones  in  the  church,  which  receives  from  the 
Lord  such  emphatic  commendation. 

AVe  have  not  particularly  noticed,  in  the 
exposition,  the  words,  "the  depths  of  Satan, 
as  they  speak,"  or  "as  they  say,"  or  "are 
accustomed  to  speak."  An  expression  of 
Irenteus,  alluding  to  the  Gnostic  heretics  of 
which  those  here  referred  to  seem  to  have 
been  a  kind  of  forerunners,  has  been  quoted 
in  this  connection:  Q«i  (that  is,  the  Gnostics) 
prof  undo  Bythi  adinvenisse  se  dicunt;  ^^who 
say  that  they  have  reached  the  depths  of  the 
abyss^  Ouflos)";  that  is,  have  sounded  the 
depths  of  attainable  human  knowledge. 
With  the  word  used  by  Irena>us  (/Suio?), 
is  associated  the  word  "depths"  (to.  fiad4a\ 
of  our  t(^xt.  These  are  here  called  "the 
depths  of  Satan."  The  words,  "as  they 
say,"  appear  to  indicate  that  members  of 
this  sect  were  accustomed  to  claim  for 
themselves  a  deeper  knowledge  than  had 
been  attained  by  others,  and  to  justify  their 


evil  practices  upon  the  ground  that  they  had 
ascertained  through  this  deeper  knowledge 
justification  for  such  practices  to  which  the 
ordinary  superficial  Christian  had  not  yet 
come.  It  was  like  those  pagan  "mysteries," 
admission  to  which  was  claimed  to  secure 
knowledge  and  privilege  of  this  same  nature. 
These  were  by  the  Thyatiran  heretics  called 
"the  depths."  Depths  they  were  —  but 
"depths  of  Satan." 

"We  find  coming  before  us,  repeatedlj%  in 
these  messages  to  the  churches,  that  unit)n 
with  himself  into  which  the  Lord  brings  his 
people.  It  is  made  prominent  again,  here,  in 
ver.  26,  27.  This  "power  over  the  nations" 
is  "as  I  received  of  my  Father";  meaning, 
undoubtedly,  that  what  he  so  receives  he 
communicates.  But  the  method  of  the  com- 
munication should  be  e.specially  noticed.  Nor 
need  this  be  any  mystery  to  us,  in  this  age  of 
the  world.  The  triumphs  of  Christianity, 
while  achieved  through  the  divine  efficiency 
of  the  ascended  Jesus,  are  achieved  in.stru- 
mentally  through  his  people.  His  power  is 
in  them;  alike  the  authority  (i^ovaCa)  and  tlie 
ability  {Smaixis).  The  nations,  it  should  also 
be  noticed,  are  "broken  to  shivers  "only  so 
far  as  they  are  hostile  to  the  Lord's  own 
.spiritual  kingdom.  It  is  the  element  of  hos- 
tility and  resistance  in  them  that  is  thus 
"broken."  In  all  other  respects,  Christianity 
and  Christian  influence  are  a  blessitig  to  "the 
nations"  themselves.  This  is  implied  in  the 
word  "govern,"  "shepherd"  (noifjiavet).  It  is 
government,  the  exertion  of  power,  and  of 
power  irresistible,  yet  with  designs  such  as 
those  with  which  the  shepherd  "governs" 
his  flock. 


1-6.    To    THE    CUURCH    IN   SaRDIS. 

1.  In.soription.  Sardis.  The  spiritual 
condition  in  which  each  of  these  churches 
is  found  seems  to  have  -its  analogy,  if  not 
its  explanation,  in  the  character  of  the  com- 
munity surrounding  it,  or  the  nature  of  those 
conditions  under  which  its  church  life  exists. 
The   Church    iij  Sardis   is   an   cxami)le  and 


Ch.  Ill] 


REVELATION. 


59 


type  of  the  worldly  church,  and  Sardis  it- 
self appears  to  have  been  characterized  in  a 
way  to  afford,  at  least,  the  occasion  for  this. 
While  the  capital  city  of  Croesus,  King  of 
Lydia,  whose  name  is  the  very  synonym  of 
extravagant  wealth,  and  in  whose  possession 
Cyrus,  his  conqueror,  in  b.  c.  548,  is  said  to 
have  found  treasure  to  the  enormous  value  of 
six  hundred  million  dollars,  this  city  enjoyed 
also  peculiar  commercial   advantages.     How 


It  is  at  least  suggestive  that  the  church 
planted  here  is  found  blameable,  not  for  the 
heresies  which  have  been  so  sharply  con- 
demned in  all  save  one  of  those  before  ad- 
dressed, but  for  that  dead  spiritual  state  which 
is  so  often  the  result  of  mere  worldliness, 
neglect  of  the  spiritual,  and  engrossment  with 
the  material.  —  He  that  hath  the  seven 
Spirits  of  God,  and  the  seven  stars.  In 
"the  seven  Spirits  of  God,"  we  have,  as  in 


much  is  fabulous  and  how  much  is  true  in 
what  is  related  of  the  river  Pactolus,  on 
which  the  city  stood,  and  its  "golden  sands," 
it  maj'  be  impossible  to  say.  Whether  more 
or  less  of  those  sources  of  sudden  and  ex- 
cessive wealth  which  in  modern  times  have 
contributed  so  much  to  a  mere  sordid  love  of 
money-getting,  may  have  been  within  reach 
of  the  people  of  Sardis,  the  city  appears  to 
have  been  noted,  in  ancient  times,  for  its 
commercial  activity,  its  wealth  and  splendor. 


1 :  4,  anticipatory  allusion  to  the  symbolism 
in  4:  5 — "seven  lamps  of  fire,  burning  before 
the  throne,  which  are  the  seven  Spirits  of 
God."  We  must  reserve  for  its  proper  place 
more  particular  notice  of  this  symbolism. 
Here  it  may  suffice  to  say  that  the  special 
force  of  its  application  is  as  indicating  that 
which  this  same  writer,  in  his  Gospel  (3:34) 
declares  of  our  Lord — that  "God  giveth  not 
the  Spirit  by  measure  unto  him"  ;  implying, 
also,    perhaps,  something  of  that  which   we 


60 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  III. 


2  Be  watchful,  and  strengthen  the  things  which 
remain,  tliat  are  ready  to  die;  for  I  have  not  found 
thy  works  perfect  before  God. 


2  Be  thou  watchful,  and  stablish  the  things  that  re- 
main, which  were  ready  to  die:   for  I  liave  'found 


1  Maiiv  ancient  auiliorities  reud,  not  found  thy  tcork. 


have  in  Heb.  9:  14,  "Who  through  the  eter- 
nal Spirit,  offered  himself  without  spot  to 
God."  It  is  also  the  general  doctrine  implied 
in  John  15:  16.  In  all  these  passages  the 
Spirit  is  represented  as  in  a  peculiar  relation 
with  the  Son  in  his  redeeming  work.  Inef- 
fably distinguished,  so  that  in  some  high 
sense  they  differ  in  their  personality,  they 
are  so  in  essence  one,  as  that  our  Lord's  own 
fullness  of  spiritual  endowment  is  represented 
as  being  "through  the  eternal  .Spirit."  The 
number  "seven"  in  the  passage  before  us, 
denoting  completeness,  perfection,  is  equiva- 
lent in  its  significance  to  what  is  said,  as 
quoted  above,  that  to  Jesus  the  Spirit  is  given 
"not  by  measure" — that  is  to  say,  his  en- 
dowment, as  one  divine,  is  perfect  and  in- 
finite. The  connection  suggests  that  the  par- 
ticular attribute  and  office  of  the  Spirit  here 
alluded  to  is  that  implied  in  John  16:  8-11,  if 
the  common  version  be  correct.  "When  he 
is  come,  he  will  7'eprove,'^  etc.  Such  is  the 
purpose  and  effect  of  the  spiritual  scrutiny 
now  applied  to  this  worldly  church  in  Sardis. 
That  our  Lord  hath  "the  seven  stars,"  fol- 
lows upon  the  fact  that  he  hath  "the  seven 
Spirits  of  God."  The  seven  stars  "are  the 
angels  of  the  seven  churches"  (1  =  20),  held  in 
the  Lord's  right  hand.  With  him  is  the  dis- 
pensation of  the  Spirit,  and  subordinate  to 
him,  accountable  to  him,  are  all  those  who 
have  under  this  dispensation  the  ministry  of 
the  word.  That  he  hath  thus  the  seven  Sjjirlts 
of  God  is  a  note  of  warning,  especiallj'  for  the 
Church  in  Sardis,  and  its  pastor. 

1-3.  Admo.vitiox.  I  know  thy  works, 
that  thou  bust  a  name  that  thou  livest, 
and  art  dead.  It  is  altogether  fanci- 
ful to  sui)pose,  with  Bengel  and  others,  that 
allusion  may  be  made  here  to  the  name 
borne  by  "the  person  who  formed  the  centre 
of  the  presiding  body  at  Sardis."  Says 
Bengel:  "There  are  in  Greek,  and  in  other 
languages  also,  many  names  which  are  de- 
rived from  life,  such  as  Zosimus,  Vitalis,  etc. 
Very  likely  the  angel  of  this  church  had  a 
fine  name  of  this  sort,  and  from  it  the  Lord 
takes  occasion  to  admonish  him  of  the  oppo- 
site nature  of  his  condition."     Hcngstenberg 


thinks  there  is  "some  probability"  in  this 
view.  We  .see  no  shadow  of  probability  in 
it,  nor  any  justification  whatever  for  reading 
thus  into  the  passage,  what  is  plainly  not 
there.  By  the  mere  fact  of  its  formal  exist- 
ence as  a  church,  and  by  the  pretension  it  put 
forward,  the  Church  in  Sardis  had  a  name  to 
live.  It  claimed  to  be  a  living  church,  in  the 
very  fact  of  maintaining  its  visibility  as  such; 
and  to  those  who  could  not  look  beyond  the 
outward  semblance,  it  seemed  to  be  a  living 
church,  and  so  had  "the  name"  of  such  a 
one.  It  is  quite  unnecessary  to  look  for  any 
other  meaning  in  the  words  than  this  plain 
one,  lying  thus  upon  the  surface.  "And  art 
dead,"  declares  what  is  true  of  this  church, 
living  thus  only  in  name  and  in  appearance. 
Some  exception  is  implied  below,  in  ver.  2,  4, 
to  the  general  fact;  yet  the  sad  truth  was,  that 
in  this  Church  at  Sardis,  as  a  Christian  body, 
the  spiritual  life  had  so  much  waned  that 
even  this  strong  expression  is  justified.  This 
life  is,  as  Grotius  says,  secundum  Chrifitum 
vivere,  "to  live  according  to  Christ,"  having, 
manifesting,  strong,  and  happy  in,  that  life 
which  is  in  him  as  the  vine,  and  in  his  people 
as  the  branches. 

2.  Be  watchful,  and  strengthen  the 
things  which  remain  [tlie  rrmainiiig  fhinr/s] 
that  are  [wei-e]  ready  to  die.  The  words 
"be  watchful "  [yivov  vpijyopior),  mean  more  than 
this  simply.  They  mean  literally,  ''become 
watchful,''^  or  ''awake  and  watch,'^  and  im- 
ply a  call  to  this  church  to  rouse  out  of  its 
slumberous  state,  and  give  earnest  heed  to 
that  which  alone  can  save  it  from  complete 
extinction.  When  we  come  to  notice  these 
"things  which  remain,"  we  see  that  the  words 
above, "art  dead,"  as  already' observed,  must 
be  taken  with  some  qualification.  Thej'  must 
mean  "dead"  so  far  as  concerned  the  mani- 
festation of  life,  and  to  a  perilous  extent  even 
the  possession  of  life.  Its  condition  was  one 
of  spiritual  inertness,  such  as  might  consist 
with  some  remaining  element  of  spiritual 
life,  yet  this  itself  in  a  donnant  and  feeble 
state.  To  reanimate  this,  "strengthen"  it, 
is  what  the  church  is  now  enjoined  to  do. 
For  even    these   things  which   remain  "are 


Ch.  III.] 


REVELATIOK 


61 


3  "Remember  therefore  how  thou  hast  received  and 
heard,  aud  hold  last,  and  4 repent.  "If  therefore  thou 
shalt  not  watch,  1  will  come  on  thee  as  a  thief,  and 
thou  shalt  not  know  what  hour  I  will  come  upon  thee. 


3  no  works  of  thine  perfected  before  my  God.  Re- 
member therefore  how  thou  hast  received  and  didst 
hear ;  and  keep  it,  and  repent.  If  therefore  thou  shalt 
not  watch,  I  will  come  as  a  thief,  and  thou  shalt  not 


aX  Tim.  6:  20;  2  Tim.  1 :  13  ;  ver.  II 6  ver.  19 c  Matt.  24:  42.  43;  25  :  13  ;  Mark  13:  33  ;  Luke  12  :  39,40;  1  Thess.  5  :  2,6;  2  Pet. 

3  :  10 :  ch.  16 :  15 


[vjere]  ready  to  die."  The  Sinaitic  and  Alex- 
andrine manuscripts  [also  Codex  Bezse  and 
Codex  Porphyrianu.s,  i.  e,  H,  A,  C,  P.— A.  H.] 
require,  here,  the  past  tense.  Alluding  to  this, 
Diisterdieck  says:  "The  imperfect  {''were 
ready,  were  about  to  die']  can  be  only  under- 
stood as  spoken  from  the  standpoint  of  him 
who  communicates  the  message  (des  Brief- 
schreibers) ;  but  it  is  also  evident  that  as  in 
the  words  'I  have  found'  (euprjKa)  immedi- 
ately following,  the  Lord,  who  indeed  is 
speaking,  glances  back  to  the  before-men- 
tioned scrutiny  of  the  church."  This  scrutiny 
is  implied  in  the  words  which  follow. — I  have 
not  found  thy  works  perfect  before 
God.  In  the  words  "before  God,"  there 
may  be  antithetical  allusion  to  what  is  said 
above  of  this  church,  "thou  hast  a  name  that 
thou  livest."  With  men  it  had  still  a  repu- 
table standing;  but  not  "before  God."  Also 
in  "I  have  not  found  thy  works  perfect," 
the  standard  by  which  all  these  churches,  and 
all  churches  are  tried,  is  indicated.  It  is  re- 
quired of  them  that  their  works  shall  be 
"  perfect"  (Tren-Arjpw/iiefa) ;  not  in  the  sense  of  ab- 
solute perfection,  but  as  "fulfilled"  according 
to  divine  requirement,  and  in  the  measure 
justly  expected  even  of  fallible  human  beings. 
The  Greek  word  means,  literally,  "made 
full";  the  conception  is  not,  therefore,  one 
of  holiness  or  the  opposite,  but  of  deficiency 
in  measure.  This  fullness  of  performance  the 
Lord  had  "found"  in  each  of  the  churches 
before  named,  at  least  in  such  measure  as 
that  he  could  commend  their  "faith,"  their 
"patience,"  their  "love,"  and  their  "ser- 
vice." Here,  however,  in  Sardis,  he  finds  that 
these  things  are  lacking,  and  hence  the  ad- 
monition. The  force  of  the  Greek  word 
for  "before"  (ivwniov),  '■^  face  to  face  with,'' 
"in  the  sight  of,"  "in  presence  of,"  should 
be  noticed.  It  implies  how  in  the  very  pres- 
ence of  God,  under  his  very  eye,  all  human 
life  is  led.  The  best  manuscripts  have  "my" 
iixov),  with  "  God  "  (©eoO).  So  that  the  passage 
correctly  reads:  "I  have  not  found  thy  works 
perfect  in  the  sight  of  my  God."  Alford  says 
that  the  word  "my"    (iiov),    "binds  on  the 


judgment  of  him  who  speaks  to  that  of  God." 
He  who  speaks  does  so  in  his  capacity  as  mani- 
festing and  representing  that  Godhead  which 
he  shares  with  the  Father  and  with  the  Spirit. 
3.  Remember  therefore  how  thou  hast 
received  and  heard.  What  force  shall  be 
given  to  this  particle,  translated  "how"  (jtws)? 
Is  it  equivalent  to  "what"?  or  "in  what 
manner?"  or,  "by  what  means?"  The  Greek 
word  itself  will  not  allow  the  first  of  these. 
The  two  other  renderings  may,  perhaps,  be 
combined  in  the  significance  of  the  passage  as 
a  whole.  The  words  seem  to  point  these  dis- 
ciples at  Sardis  back  to  the  beginning  of  their 
Christian  life,  bidding  them  consider  hoiv  that 
life  had  been  first  received.  It  was  a  gift  of 
God  in  response  to  earnestness  of  desire,  be- 
lieving prayer,  and  faithful  doing  on  their 
own  part.  It  is  implied  that  in  the  same  way 
must  its  life,  now  so  sadly  declined,  be  re- 
newed. The  call  of  God  they  had  then 
"heard" — let  them  hear  it  now. — And  hold 
fast  and  repent.  In  the  Greek,  the  first  of 
these  imperatives  is  in  the  present  tense,  the 
second  in  the  aorist.  It  is  a  subtle  distinction 
of  sense  which  may  be  noticed.  The  first 
word  suggests  the  idea  that  the  holding  fast  is 
something  to  be  continued ;  the  second  word, 
"repent,"  in  the  aorist  imperative,  presents 
with  emphasis  the  conception  of  the  fact,  that 
only,  with  no  reference  to  the  collateral  idea 
of  continuance.  The  injunction  to  "hold 
fast,"  to  keep,  implies  that  what  was  before 
"received"  has  not  all  been  lost.  Holding 
fast  to  this,  and  earnestly  asking  for  acces- 
sions of  the  same  gift,  this  church,  even  in  its 
low  spiritual  state,  may  yet  have  a  blessing. 
But  it  must  realize  its  own  sad  decline,  and 
of  all  that  has  been  the  cause  of  this,  it  must 
'"repent." — If,  therefore,  thou  shalt  not 
watch,  I  will  come  on  thee  as  a  thief. 
The  injuction  and  the  threatening  are  in 
manifest  relation  with  each  other.  The 
coming  as  a  thief  in  the  night  is  more  than 
once  thus  mentioned  in  the  Gospels,  as  indi- 
cating the  unexpectedness  of  the  Lord's 
coming,  when  he  comes  to  judge  and  punish. 
Hence   the   force  of    the    word  "watch" — 


62 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  III. 


4  Thou  hast  "a  few  naiues  even  in  Sardis  which  have 
not  'defiled  their  garments;  and  they  shall  walk  with 
me  "iu  white:  tor  they  are  worthy. 

5  He  that  overconie'th, ''the  same  shall  be  clothed  in 
white  raiment;  and  I  will  not  «blot  out  his  name  out 
of  the /book  of  life,  i)ut  i/I  will  confess  his  name  before 
my  Father,  and  before  his  angels. 


4  know  what  hour  I  will  come  upon  thee.  But  thou 
hast  a  few  naiues  in  Sardis  that  did  not  detile  their 
garments:   and  they  shall  walk  with  me  iu  white; 

5  for  they  are  worthy.  He  that  overcometh  shall  thus 
be  arrayed  in  white  garments;  and  1  will  iu  no 
wise  blot  his  name  out  of  the  book  of  life,  and  I  will 
confess  his  name  before  my  I-ather,  and  before  his 


a  Aot9  1:  16.... 6  Jude  23 cch.  4:  4;  6:  II ;  7:9.  13 d  ch.  19:  8 e  Ex.  32:  32;  Ps.  ( 

12 ;  21 :  ■il....g  Mutt.  10 :  32  ;  Luke  12 :  8. 


:  28. . . ./  Phil.  4  :  3  :  ch.  13 :  8  ;  17:8; 


"wake  and  watch."  Just  as  the  thief  comes 
unwatched  for,  and  unprepared  for  by  the 
slumbering  household,  so  will  judgment  and 
punishment  come  upon  this  careless  and 
world!}-  church. — And  thou  shalt  not 
know  what  hour  I  will  come  upon  thee. 
This  renews,  with  added  emphasis,  the  warn- 
ing already  given.  The  "coming"  cannot  be 
the  second  coming;  but  that  visitation,  provi- 
dential and  punitive,  in  which  the  conse- 
quences here  threatened  shall  be  realized.  In 
the  Greek  the  words,  "thou  shalt  not  know," 
are  made  emphatic  by  the  use  of  the  double 
negative  (oO  ixri).  They  may  be  translated, 
"thou  ce7'tainly  shalt  not  know." 

4-6.  Promise.  Thou  hast  a  few  names, 
even  in  Sardis,  which  have  not  defiled 
their  garments.  The  corrected  reading, 
according  to  Tischendorf,  is,  ''But  thou  hast 
a  few  names  in  [omitting  even]  Sardis  which 
have  not  defiled  their  garments."  These 
"few  names" — few  individuals  in  the  church 
— represent  the  "things  which  remain." 
They  are  the  redeeming  element  in  the 
church,  provided  they  have  encouragement 
and  support.  That  they  have  "not  defiled 
their  garments"— not  partaken  of  the  preva- 
lent spiritual  decline  and  consequent  defiling 
worldliness — is  the  characteristic  of  their 
better  condition.  The  idea  of  fewness  is,  no 
doubt,  to  be  strictly  taken.— And  they  shall 
walk  with  me  in  white,  for  they  are 
worthy.  The  promise,  "shall  walk  with  me 
in  white"— that  is  to  say,  in  \yhite  robes,  as 
is  clearly  suggested  in  the  form  of  the  Greek 
word  for  "white"  (AeuKoIs)  the  word  for 
"white"  being  plural— points  back  to  that 
which  is  said  of  these  faithful  ones,  that 
they  have  "not  defiled  their  garments."  The 
imagery  is  the  familiar  one  of  character 
viewed  as  a  garment.  They  had  preserved 
their  Christian  fidelity  and  consi.stency.  The 
promise  is  that  they  shall  have  that  best  re- 
ward, pure  and  holy  character,  or  nature  in 
its  completeness.  AVe  should  notice  the  dis- 
tinction implied  in  garments   "not  defiled," 


and  in  garments  made  "white."  The  former 
means  freedom  from  deforming  and  disgrace- 
ful stain ;  the  latter  means  freedom  from  every 
kind  of  imperfection;  such  being  the  idea  set 
forth  in  the  pure  and  perfect  "white"  in  which 
the  redeemed  are  clothed.  The  words  "they 
shall  walk  with  me,"  foreshadow  that  perfect 
union  with  himself  into  which  the  Lord  will 
finally  bring  his  redeemed,  and  their  free  and 
happy  intercourse  with  him,  in  their  saved 
state,  as  when  friends  "walk"  together  in 
perfect  mutual  communion.  We  naturally 
connect  the  words  of  promise  in  this  place, 
with  what  appears  in  7:  13,  14.  "For  they 
are  worthy,"  is  not  to  be  taken  as  implying 
merits  or  as  if  what  is  promised  rests  for  its 
condition  and  assurance  upon  any  considera- 
tion of  merit  in  themselves.  They  simply 
mean  that  they  of  whom  this  promise  is 
spoken  are  such  as  they  for  lohoni  it  is  in- 
tended. All  the  -gifts  of  salvation  are  through 
the  unmerited  grace  of  God  in  Christ;  but 
they  are  given,  not  to  the  unbelieving,  the 
unfaithful,  and  the  defiled,  but  to  the  believ- 
ing, the  faithful,  and  the  pure. 

5.  He  that  overcometh,  the  same  shall 
be  clothed  in  white  raiment.  A  reitera- 
tion of  the  promise  in  more  express  terms. 
Tischendorf  reads  "thus"  (oCtm?),  in  place  of 
"the  same"  (oSto?);  so  that  the  passage  as 
amended  will  stand,  "he  that  overcometh 
thus,"  etc. — And  I  will  not  blot  out  his 
name  out  of  the  book  of  life.  Diister- 
dieck  says:  "The  figure  of  the  Book  of  Life 
is  not  taken  from  the  genealogical  tables  of 
the  priests;  but  from  similar  lists,  such  as 
those  which  the  magistrates  kept,  and  from 
which  the  names  of  deceased  citizens  were 
stricken  out."  Ziillig's  comment  on  the  pas- 
sage is:  "According  to  Exod.  32:  32,  33;  Ps. 
69:  28;  Isa.  4:  3,  God  has  a  book,  in  which 
the  names  of  all  those  to  whom  he  has  pur- 
posed to  give  (corporeal,  natural)  life  are  be- 
forehand enrolled.  The  name  of  him  who  dies 
is  stricken  out  of  this.  This  is  'the  book  of 
life,'  or  of  'the  living,'  the  common  mass  of 


Ch.  III.] 


REVELATION. 


63 


6  "  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit 
sailli  iiuto  the  cliiirches. 

7  And  to  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Philacleljjhia 
write:  These  things  saith  'he  that  is  holy,  "he  that  is 
true,  he  that  hath  ''the  key  of  David,  ''he  that  opeueth, 
and  no  man  shutteth;  and  /shutteth,  and  no  man 
openeth ; 


6  angels.    He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the 
Spirit  saith  to  the  churches. 

7  And  to  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Philadelphia 
write ; 

These  things  saith  he  that  is  holy,  he  that  is  true, 
he  that  hath  the  key  of  David,  he  that  openeth,  and 
none  shall  shut,  and  that  shutteth,  and  none  openeth : 


och.  2:  7.... 6  Acts  3  :  14 c  1  John  5  :   20;  ver.  14,  oh.  1;  5;  6:  10;   19:  ll....d  Isa.  22:  22;  Luke  1 :  32  ;   ch.  1:  18.. 

16:  19.... /Job  12:  14. 


those  living  on  the  earth  and  subject  to  the  do- 
minion of  the  world-ruler.  Something  quite 
different  is  Dan.  12:  1,  where  it  is  a  book  in 
which  are  enrolled  the  names  of  those  who,  in 
that  last  (Messianic)  trial  of  affliction  come  out 
of  it  with  life,  and,  according  to  ver.  2,  shall 
have  now  a  better,  an  everlasting  life.  In  this 
last  form  the  Apocalypse  here  takes  up  the 
thought,  and  modifies  it  still  further  in  this, 
that  it  is  for  it  a  book  in  which  even  before 
the  world  was  made,  the  names  of  all  future 
true  confessors  of  Messiah  Jesus  were  written, 
as  the  names  of  those  whose  life  should 
have  a  part  in  his  kingdom  and  in  the  ulti- 
mate Paradise,  for  which  reason  it  is  now 
called  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life."  The  im- 
agery is  evidently  founded  upon  the  general 
conception  of  an  enrollment,  for  whatever 
purpose.  There  may  be  in  it,  thus,  a  general 
reference  to  the  genealogical  tables  of  the 
priests;  but  it  would  be  altogether  too  re- 
stricted a  view  to  regard  it  as  limited  to  these, 
and  thus  as  having  in  view  that  priesthood 
which  is  affirmed  of  all  the  redeemed.  The 
view  taken  is  evidently  much  broader,  and 
regards  the  redeemed  as  the  elect,  or  as  the 
enrolled  ones.  But  can  these  names  once 
written  be  "blotted  out"  ;  the  elect  become 
non-elect?  In  truth,  what  our  Lord  here 
says  is,  virtually,  that  they  cannot  be  blotted 
out.  The  overcoming  of  those  faithful  unto 
death  is  proof  that  their  names  are  written  in 
the  Book  of  Life.  The  promise,  "I  will  not 
blot  out,"  is  but  declaring  that  to  his  own 
part  of  the  "everlasting  covenant,"  the  Lord 
himself  will  be  fiiithful.  This  he  confirms  in 
the  following  words:  I  will  confess  his 
name  before  my  Father,  and  before  his 
angels.  This  looks  forward  to  the  great 
day,  "when  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in 
his  glory."  The  call  to  attention,  "He  that 
hath  an  ear,"  etc.,  comes,  as  in  the  case  next 
before,  at  the  close,  not  at  the  beginning  of 
the  promise.  It  solemnly  enforces  and  em- 
phasizes all  that  has  previously  been  said. 


GENERAL    COMMENTS. 

In  his  notes  upon  ver.  5,  Alford  says: 
"Those  who  have  a  name  that  thej'  live,  and 
are  dead,  are  necessarily  wiped  out  of  the 
Book  oi  Life;  only  he  whose  name  is  a  living 
name,  can  remain  on  those  pages."  Ought 
we  not  to  say,  rather,  that  only  he  whose 
name  is  a  living  name,  was  ever  written 
there?  Can  we  suppose  such  a  thing  as  that 
in  the  Book  of  Life  those  have  been  enrolled 
who  have  only  a  name  to  live?  Again  he 
says:  "Thus  they  whose  names  have  been 
once  inscribed  in  this  book,  whether  by  their 
outward  admission  into  Christ's  church  by 
baptism,  or  by  their  becoming  living  members 
of  him  by  faith,  if  they  endure  to  the  end  as 
his  soldiers  and  servants,  and  obtain  the 
victory,  shall  not,  as  all  his  [merely']  pro- 
fessed members  shall,  have  their  names  erased 
from  it."  Such  a  view  of  the  passage  seems 
to  us  both  confusing  and  misleading.  We 
cannot  suppose  such  a  thing  as  that  a  false 
profession  of  living  faith  in  the  Saviour 
secures  the  enrollment  of  one's  name  in  the 
Book  of  Life.  Is  God,  who  searches  heartSj 
misled  as  easily  by  false  professions,  as  men 
to  whom  the  heart  is  a  sealed  book  ?  It  seems 
to  us  that  the  words  under  consideration — 
"I  will  not  blot  out,"  etc. — are,  as  intimated 
above,  simply  an  assurance  to  the  faithful 
ones  of  the  absolute  and  perfect  trust  with 
which  they  may  leave  their  final  salvation  in 
the  hands  of  him  who.se  promise  and  pledge 
they  have.  They  are  an  encouragement  to 
faith,  at  the  same  time  that  they  are  a  stimu- 
lus to  fidelity. 


7-13.  To  THE  Church  in  Philadelphia. 

7.  Inscription.  To  the  angel  of  the 
Church  in  Philadelphia,  Avrite.  The  his- 
torian Gibbon,  while  in  a  foot-note  he  in- 
dulges his  customary  spite  against  whatever 
savors  of  Christian  truth,  still  in  the  text  of 
his  narrative  (iv:260  Milman,  Ed.  Harper, 


64 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  III. 


1844),  in  connection  with  his  account  of  the 
conquest  of  all  these  seven  cities  by  the  Turks, 
in  1312-1392,  says  in  a  spirit  of  something  like 
historical  justice:  "In  the  loss  of  Ephesus, 
the  Christians  deplored  the  fall  of  the  first 
angel,  the  extinction  of  the  first  candlestick, 
of  the  Revelation;  the  desolation  is  complete, 
and  the  Temple  of  Diana  or  the  Church  of 
Mary  will  equally  elude  the  search  of  the 
curious  traveler.  The  circus  and  three  stately 
theatres  of  Laodicea  are  now  peopled  with 
wolves  and  foxes;     Sardis   is   reduced  to  a 


of  honor  and  safety  may  sometimes  be  the 
same."  The  Philadelphia  of  to-day  is  a  city 
of  some  ten  thousand  inhabitants,  mostly 
Turks,  "situated,"  says  Schafi",  "upon  four 
or  five  flat  summits  at  the  foot  of  the  Mount 
Tmolus."  Among  its  conspicuous  features  is 
a  solitary  pillar,  standing  as  if  intended  to 
illustrate  the  promise  written  in  ver.  12  of 
this  chapter,  and  a  building  now  used  as  a 
mosque,  but  which  tradition  declares  to  have 
been  the  place  of  worship  used  by  the  Church 
of  Philadelphia,  as  it  was  when  addressed  in 


PHILADELPHIA. 


miserable  village;  the  God  of  Mahomet,  with- 
out a  rival  or  a  son,  is  invoked  in  the  mosques 
of  Thyatira  and  Pergamos,  and  the  populous- 
ness  of  Smyrna  is  supported  by  the  foreign 
trade  of  the  Franks  and  Armenians.  Phila- 
delphia alone  has  been  saved  by  prophecy  or 
by  courage.  At  a  distance  from  the  sea,  for- 
gotten by  the  emperors,  encompassed  on  all 
sides  by  the  Turks,  her  valiant  citizens  de- 
fended their  religion  and  freedom  above  four- 
score years,  and  at  length  capitulated  with 
the  proudest  of  the  Ottomans.  Among  the 
Greek  colonies  and  churches  of  Asia,  Phila- 
delphia is  still  erect— a  column  in  the  scene 
of  ruins— a  pleasing  example  that  the  paths 


the  message  now  before  us.  Philadelphia 
was  less  favorably  situated  than  any  of  the 
other  seven  cities  here  mentioned.  The  region 
where  it  stands  being  volcanic,  the  city  has 
been  several  times  destroyed  by  earthquakes. 
In  spite  of  these  calamities  it  has  survived, 
and,  as  narrated  above,  even  when  assailed 
by  the  invincible  Ottomans,  maintained  a 
struggle  for  independence  such  as  is  recorded 
of  no  one  of  the  far  stronger  neighboring 
cities.  Strikingly  analogous  with  this  is  what 
appears  in  this  message  of  the  Lord  to  the 
Church  in  Philadelphia;  smallest  and  weak- 
est of  the  seven,  beset  and  persecuted  by 
"them  of  the  synagogue  of  Satan"  (ver.  9),  it 


Ch.  III.] 


KEVELATIOK 


65 


still  had  so  maintained  its  integrity,  that  not 
one  word  of  reproof  appears  in  all  that  is  here 
written. — These   things    saith   he    that  is 
holy,  he  that  is   true.     "The  Holy  One" 
(6  a-yios).     "The  True  One"  (6  aATjeii/d?).     Each 
of  the  terms  used   indicates   that  which   be- 
longs to  the  essential  nature  of  the  being  de- 
scribed.     The    Holy   One,    therefore,    means 
more  than  simply  the  Righteous  One,  and  the 
True  One  more  than  simply  one  who  utters 
truth,   whether  in  promise,   in  testimony,  or 
in  threatening.     Both  terms  alike  affirm  that 
which  is  really  true  of  only  one  being,  that 
is,  God,  in  whom  alone  holiness  and  truth  are 
essential.     They  also,  quite  plainly,  look  for- 
ward,   in  their   significance,    and    lend    em- 
phasis to  that  assertion  of  sovereigntj'  over 
the  house  of  David  which  follows. — He  that 
hath  the  key  of  David.     Interpreters   are 
agreed  in  viewing  this  as  a  reference  to  the 
passage  in  Isaiah  22:  22,  where  it  is  said  of 
Eliakim,  son  of  Hilkiah,   "The   key  of  the 
house  of  David  will  I  lay  upon  his  shoulder, 
so  he  shall  open  and  none  shall  shut,  and  he 
shall  shut,  and  none  shall  open."     Eliakim 
it  is  predicted  in  this  place,  shall  be  placed 
"over  the  house"— or  the  household— he  made 
Hezekiah's  prime  minister,   in  the  room  of 
the  unworthy  Shebna.     The  key  of  the  house 
of  David  is  thus  laid  "  upon  his  shoulder,"  in 
the  sense  th*t  he  is  put  in  charge  with  those 
things  which  more  immediately  concern  the 
regulations   of  the   palace,    and   as   well   the 
king's  relations  with   his   people.      Through 
this  minister  access  will  be  had  to  the  king — 
he  is  more  or  less  in  the  position  of  a  media- 
tor;   the    person    through   whom    important 
affairs  in  the  relations  of  ruler  and  ruled  will 
be  transacted.     In  this  official  position  he  ex- 
ercises large  powers;   he  can  open  and  shut 
doors  of  access  to  royal  clemency  or  justice, 
and  doors  of  royal  favor,  deserved  or  unde- 
served.     In   our  present  passage,    therefore, 
the  allusion  is,  clearly,  to  our  Lord's  position 
and  office  as  the  dispenser  of  blessings,  and 
all  kingly  gifts.     It  should  be  noticed  that 
in  this  place  it  is  not  "the  key  of  the  house  of 
David"  that  is  spoken  of,  but  "the  key  of 
David' ^ ;  so  that  the  office  and  function  hero 
asserted  of  himself  by  our  Lord  is  not  minis- 
terial,  as   acting   for   another,   but   royal,   as 
acting  bj'  an  authority  quite  his  own. — He 
that  openeth,  and  no  man  shutteth,  and 
shutteth  and  no  man  openeth.     The  more 


exact  reading  is:  "one?  that  openeth  and  no 
man  shall  shut,  and  shutteth  and  no  man  shall 
open.''  The  imagery,  of  course,  is  suggested 
by  that  of  the  key.  What  it  indicates  is 
that  the  authority  which  our  Lord  exercises 
as  King  is  absolute  and  final.  This  sover- 
eignty he  uses,  even  in  delegating  to  his 
church  some  representative  exercise  of  a  like 
prerogative,  "/will  give  unto  thee  the  keys 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  whatsoever 
thou  shalt  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in 
heaven;  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose  on 
earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven"  (Matt.  i6: 19), 
A  certain  authority,  in  teaching  and  disci- 
pline—a certain  high  privilege  as  dispensers 
of  the  offer  of  salvation  through  faith  in  hi.s 
name— was  delegated  by  our  Lord  to  his 
apostles,  and  through  them  to  his  whole 
church — to  both  as  representing  him,  alike  in 
teaching  and  in  ruling.  He  is  alwaj'S,  how- 
ever, the  Head  of  the  Church,  the  King  in 
Zion,  David's  son  and  heir,  and  who  "hath 
the  key  of  David." 

[It  has  been  suggested  that  possibly  this 
symbolism  of  "the  key,"  in  both  passages 
above  noticed,  may  be  explained  in  another 
way;  or  rather,  an  auxiliary  meaning  be 
associated  with  this.  In  the  article  upon  the 
"Scribes"  in  Dr.  Smith's  Dictionary  of  the 
Bible,  the  following  passage  occurs.  The 
writer  is  speaking  of  the  young  scribe  when 
finally  admitted  to  full  privilege  as  such : 
"After  a  sufficient  period  of  training,  prob- 
ably at  the  age  of  thirtj',  the  probationer  was 
solemnly  admitted  to  his  office.  The  presiding 
rabbi  pronounced  the  formula,  'I  admit  thee, 
and  thou  art  admitted  to  the  Chair  of  the 
Scribe,'  solemnly  ordained  him  by  the  im- 
position of  hands,  and  gave  to  him,  as  the 
symbol  of  his  work,  tablets  on  which  he  was 
to  note  down  the  sayings  of  the  wise,  and  the 
key  of  knowledge  (comp.  Luke  11 :  52),  with 
which  he  was  to  open  or  to  shut  the  treasures 
of  divine  wisdom."  The  writer  of  the  article 
referred  to.  Dr.  Plumptre,  in  his  commentary 
upon  Matt.  16 :  19,  alludes  to  the  custom  men- 
tioned, and  regards  it  as  suggesting  a  "train 
of  figurative  thought"  blending  with  that 
afforded  us  by  the  passage  in  Isa.  22:  22: 
"When  they  [the  scribes]  were  admitted  to 
their  office  they  received,  as  its  symbol,  the 
key  of  knowledge  (Luke  11:52),  which  was  to 
admit  them  to  the  treasure-chambers  of  the 
'house  of  the  interpreter,'  the  Beth-Midrash 


66 


REVELATION, 


[Ch.  hi. 


8  "I  know  thv  works:  behold,  I  have  set  before  thee 
'an  open  door,  and  no  man  can  shut  it:  for  thou  hast 
a  little  strength,  and  hast  kept  ujy  word,  and  hast  not 
denied  uiv  name. 

9  Heboid,  I  will  make  "them  of  the  synagogue  of 
Satan,  which  sav  thov  are  Jews,  and  are  not,  but  do 
lie;  behold,  -'I  will  make  them  to  come  and  worship 
before  thy  feet,  and  to  know  that  1  have  loved  thee. 


8  I  know  thy  works  (behold,  I  have  '  set  before  thee  a 
door  opened,  which  none  can  shut),  that  thou  hast  a 
little  power,  and  didst  keep  my  word,  and  didst  not 

9  deny  my  name.  Kehold,  I  give  of  the  synagogue  of 
Satan,  of  those  who  say  they  are  Jews,  and  they  are 
not,  but  do  lie;  behold,  I  will  make  them  to  come 
and  worship  before  thy  leet,  and  to  know  that  1  have 


a  ver.  1 i  1  Cor.  16:  9;  2  Cor.  2:  12 c  cb.  2:9 d  Isa.  49  :  23  ;  60  :  14. 1  Gr.  given. 


of  the  Kabbis.  For  this  work  the  Christ  had 
been  training  his  disciples,  and  Peter's  con- 
fession had  shown  that  the  training  had  so 
far  done  its  work.  He  was  qualified  to  be  a 
'scribe  instructed  unto  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,'  and  to  'bring  forth  out  of  its  treas- 
ures things  new  and  old,'  and  now  the  'key' 
was  given  to  him  as  the  token  of  his  admis- 
sion to  that  office."  If  this  interpretation 
should  be  adopted  for  the  passage  in  Matthew, 
it  would  eflectually  dispose  of  the  papistical 
assumption  founded  upon  the  words  there. 
It  is  a  less  obvious  one  for  the  passage  we  have 
here  under  examination,  though  suggestive, 
also,  for  this.  "The  key  of  David"— since 
David  was  a  ruler,  not  a  teacher,  or  inter- 
preter of  the  law — implies,  clearly,  a  different 
function  from  that  of  tlie  scribe ;  and  must  be 
meant  here  to  affirm  of  our  Lord  the  regal 
character  which  belongs  to  him  as  David's 
Son  and  Zion's  King.] 

8-13.  Commendation  and  Promise.  I 
know  thy  works.  Not  here  spoken,  as  in 
other  cases,  by  way  of  admonition,  but  rather 
of  encouragement;  implying  that  however 
feeble  and  small  the  Church  at  Philadelphia 
might  seem,  in  point  of  numbers,  whatever 
concerned  its  welfare  was  of  importance  to 
the  Lord  just  the  same,  all  the  facts  of  its  con- 
dition as  well  known,  as  if  in  the  eye  of  man 
it  had  been  itself  of  greater  importance. — 
Behold,  I  have  set  before  thee  an  open 
door,  and  no  man  can  shut  it.  "Open 
way  of  access  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Scrip- 
tures," is  the  sense  given  by  one  interpreter 
(Lyra);  "an  entrance  into  the  joy  of  thy 
Lord,  and  so  to  uninterrupted  progress  in  all 
good"  (Bengel).  Others  take  the  words  as 
referring  in  general  to  Christian  privilege  of 
access  and  spiritual  intercourse  with  the  Lord 
himself.  The  metaphor  of  "the  key,"  as  now 
explained,  seems  to  make  some  such  sense  as 
this  last  necessary.  But  such  privilege  of 
access  implies  more  than  what  might  concern 
these  Philadelphian  Christians,  as  individuals. 
The  assurance  is  given  with  special  reference 


to  those  circumstances  in  their  condition 
alluded  to  below,  and  to  their  need  of  specia'. 
grace.  There  may  be  a  union  of  the  two 
ideas — the  door  of  access  and  the  door  of  op- 
portunity. — For  thou  hast  a  little  strength, 
and  hast  kept  my  word,  and  hast  not  de- 
nied my  name.  The  force  of  the  connecting 
particle  "for,"  "because,"  should  be  noticed. 
It  is  a  word  of  appreciation,  and  shows  that 
if  he  who  sees  not  as  man  seeth  is  prompt 
to  mark  and  condemn  the  fault,  he  is  no  less 
prompt  to  recognize  and  approve  that  which 
is  worthy.  The  connection  of  thought  re- 
quires that  in  the  phrase,  "a  little  strength," 
the  emphasis  should  be  placed  upon  the  word 
strength,  not  upon  the  word  little.  It  is  not 
because  the  strength  is  small,  but  because  it  is 
genuine.  We  have  thus  a  thought  in  keeping 
with  that  which  follows — "  hast  kept  my  word, 
and  hast  not  denied  my  name."  The  reality 
and  genuineness  of  Christian  strengtJt,  are 
witnessed  by  Christian^^^e/i^i/.  It  is  thus  that 
the  prophet  comforts  himself  (isa. 4|: 4) :  "Then 
I  said,  I  have  labored  in  vain,  I  have  spent 
my  strength  for  nought,  and  in  vain ;  yet 
surely  my  judgment  is  with  the  Lord,  and  my 
work  with  my  God."  (See  General  Com- 
ments, below.) 

9.  Behold,  I  will  make  them  of  the 
synagogue  of  Satan.  The  meaning  is, 
"them  (who  are)  of  the  synagogue  of 
Satan";  the  clause  is  descriptive. — Which 
say  they  are  Jews,  and  are  not,  but  do 
lie.  They  are  called  a  synagogue  of  Satan, 
in  allusion  to  the  fact  that,  as  Jews,  the  sj'na- 
gogue  organically  characterizes  them.  Such 
as  these  here  described  have  before  been 
found  at  Smyrna,  (2:9),  where,  as  also  here, 
they  appear  to  be  pointed  out  as  conspicuous 
for  their  malice  and  bitterness.  That  they 
are  declared  to  be  of  the  synagogue  of  Sntait 
(the  "accuser,"  the  "adversary  "),  may  refer 
to  this  spirit  of  malicious  opposition,  taking 
the  form,  not  so  much  of  actual  violence — 
for,  as  themselves  being  under  restraint 
in   pagan  communities,  they   would   in   this 


Ch.  III.] 


REVELATION. 


67 


10  Because  thou  hast  kept  the  word  of  my  patience, 
"I  also  will  keep  thee  from  the  hour  of  temptation, 
which  shall  come  upon  'all  the  world,  to  try  them  that 
dwell  <^  upon  the  earth. 


10  loved  thee.  Because  thou  didst  keep  the  word  of  my 
ipatience,  I  also  will  keep  thee  from  the  hour  of  Atrial, 
that  hour  which  is  to  come  upon  the  whole  ^world,  to 


(2  Pet.  2:  9 6  Luke  2:  1 cisa.  24:  17. 1  Or,  sted/astness 2  Or,  temptation 3  Gr.  inhabited  earth. 


be  held  back — as  of  false  accusation,  mali- 
cious slander.  In  all  cases,  however,  where 
violence  was  used  by  the  pagan  authorities 
or  the  pagan  populace,  such  Jews  were 
present,  to  encourage  and  enjoy  the  cruelties 
practiced.  In  calling  themselves  "Jews," 
in  any  such  sense  as  being  the  Lord's  favored 
people,  they  spoke  falsely.  For,  in  the  first 
place,  that  distinction  had  ceased,  so  far  as 
nationality  was  concerned ;  and,  in  the  next 
place,  they  were  themselves  lacking  in  all 
that  was  characteristic  of  the  true,  spiritual 
Israel. — Behold,  I  will  make  them  to 
come  and  worship  before  thy  feet.  The 
sentence  preceding  is  not  finished,  but  breaks 
oflT  before  the  end  is  reached,  and  a  new  form 
of  expression  is  adopted.  Literally,  it  reads 
thus:  "Behold,  I  will  make  (give,  SiSil)  them 
which  are  of  the  synagogue  of  Satan,  which 
say  they  are  Jews,  and  are  not,  but  do  lie — 
behold,  I  will  make  (n-oi^o-w)  them  that  they 
shall  come  and  shall  worship  before  thy 
feet."  A  corresponding  passage  is  at  Isa. 
60:  14:  "The  sons  also  of  them  that  afflicted 
thee  shall  come  bending  unto  thee;  and  all 
they  that  despised  thee  shall  bow  themselves 
down  at  the  soles  of  thy  feet,  and  they  shall 
call  thee  the  city  of  the  Lord,  the  Zion  of  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel."  An  example  is  aflforded 
in  connection  with  our  passage,  of  Komanist 
misinterpretation.  "Behold,  I  will  make 
them  come  and  wor.ship  before  thee,"  etc., 
is  thus  explained  by  Cornelius  a  Lapide: 
"This  signifies  that  highest  devotion  of  the 
faithful,  reverence  and  submission  as  regards 
the  church  and  its  prelates.  For  this  adora- 
tion proceeds  from  an  apprehension  of  pre- 
latical  excellence,  more  than  human,  though 
less  than  divine."  Significatur  summ,a  fide- 
lium  devotio,  reverentia  et  submissio  erga 
Ecclesiam  ejusque  Prcelatos.  Hcbc  enim, 
adoratio  procedit  ex  apprehensione  excel- 
lentioe  Proelatorum,,  plus  quam,  humnjice  et 
m,inus  quam  divince.  It  is,  of  course,  not  of 
the  devotion  of  faithful  ones  (fidelium  de- 
votio) that  the  Lord  is  here  speaking,  but 
of  the  hostility  of  hypocritical  pretenders — 
"which  say  they  are  Jews,  and  are  not,  but 


do  lie";  while  to  attribute  to  the  humble 
Philadelphian  pastor,  either  prelatical  func- 
tions or  prelatical  pretensions,  is  as  much  in 
the  face  of  history,  as  it  would  be  to  repre- 
sent the  Apostle  Peter  as  reigning  at  Rome 
in  the  pontificial  splendor  of  his  so-called 
successors.  The  passage  can  have  no  other 
consistent  meaning  than  as  promising  to  the 
few  but  faithful  Christians  at  Philadelphia 
that  the  opposition  which  encounters  them 
shall  not  prevail,  but  shall  be  eflFectually 
overcome  and  humhled.  The  expression, 
"worship  before  thee,"  must  be  taken  in 
its  Oriental  sense — the  act  of  prostration, 
implying  not  adoration,  but  respect. — And 
to  know  that  I  have  loved  thee.  Some 
manuscripts  read,  "andfAo?«  shalt  know\\\&\, 
I  have  loved  thee."  The  best  authorities, 
however,  seem  to  prefer  that  which  is  given 
above.  The  Lord's  favor  to  these  faithful 
ones  is  no  doubt  a  testimony  to  themselves; 
but  is  mentioned  here  as  carrying  demonstra- 
tion and  conviction  to  even  their  enemies. 

10.  Because  thou  hast  kept  the  Avord 
of  my  patience.  Great  stress  is  laid,  in 
many  parts  of  our  Lord's  teaching,  as  also 
that  of  his  apostles,  upon  "patience" — not  the 
patience  of  mere  submission,  but  that  of  active 
endurance — "patient  continuance  in  well- 
doing" (Rom. 2-7).  "We  may  cite  Luke  8:  15; 
21:  19;  Matt.  10:  22;  24:  13;  also,  "theking- 
!  dom  and  patience  of  Jesus  Christ,"  in  the 
early  part  of  the  book  we  are  now  studying 
(1:9).  "The  word  of  my  patience"  must 
allude  to  such  passages  as  these  cited,  and 
mean  that  injunction  to  "patience,"  steadfast- 
ness, and  encouragement  for  it,  of  which  these 
passages  are  examples. — I  also  will  keep 
thee  from  the  hour  of  temptation.  "Hour 
of  trial,"  this  must  mean;  trial,  that  is,  of  a 
nature  to  put  fidelity  to  the  proof,  and  in 
general  disclose  character.  In  explaining  this 
phrase,  "hour  of  trial,"  it  does  not  seem 
right  to  pass  over  all  that  was  present  and 
local,  or  soon  to  become  so,  to  this  Philadel- 
phian Church  and  pastor,  and  those  events, 
alike  in  the  near  and  the  distant  future,  which 
the  words,    "hour  of  temptation,"   of  trial, 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  III. 


11  Behold,  "I  come  quickly:   'hold  that  fast  which 
thou  hast,  that  no  man  take  «thy  crown. 


11  'try  them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth.  I  come  quickly : 
hold  last  that  which  thou  hast,  that  no  one  take  thy 


a  Phil.  4:5;  ch.  1:3,  22:7,12,20 6  ver.  3  ;  ch.  2  :  25 c  ch.  2  :  10. Or,  tempt. 


would  so  appropriately  describe,  and  limit 
the  idea,  as  Alford  does,  to  "the  great  time 
of  trouble  which  shall  be  before  the  Lord's 
second  coming."  The  promise  is  plainly  meant 
for  present  strengthening  and  comfort,  and  so 
far  from  mere  vague  allusion  to  an  indefinite, 
and  in  point  of  fact  far-distant,  future,  must 
have  reference  to  things  more  or  less  imme- 
diate and  pressing.  What  should  hinder  our 
understanding  by  the  words  under  considera- 
tion the  very  times  of  trial  of  which  it  is  the 
purpose  of  this  whole  book,  very  largely,  to 
speak,  and  the  introduction  to  which  was  now 
already  near  at  hand — that  whole  scene  of 
Christian  trial,  of  testing  vicissitude,  includ- 
ing along  with  bitter  persecution  the  falling 
away  of  many,  and  the  incoming  of  pernic- 
ious heresies;  in  all  which  Christian  fidelity 
and  the  very  spirit  of  the  world  itself  should 
be  put  to  the  proof?  In  its  broadest  meaning, 
however,  the  "hour  of  temptation"  may  be 
viewed  as  embracing  the  whole  of  the  present 
Dispensation,  to  which  our  own,  with  every 
other  period,  from  the  first  to  the  second  ad- 
vent, belongs.  "I  also  will  keep  thee/row." 
What  is  the  force  of  the  preposition  ?  It  can- 
not mean  that  faithful  Christians  have  a  prom- 
ise that  they  shall  be  spared  all  participation 
in  the  testing  trials;  for  no  promise  of  this 
kind  has  ever  been  given,  nor  has  such  ever 
been  the  experience  of  the  Lord's  people. 
"  I  pray  not,"  said  Jesus,  "that  thou  shouldest 
take  them  out  of  the  world,  but  that  thou 
sbouldest  keep  them  from  the  evil.'-  To  de- 
note a  keeping  "away  from,'"  a  different  prep- 
osition (otto)  would  be  used.  The  one  here 
employed  (tit),  meaning  "out of,"  impliesmore 
a  safe  can^yinf)  through  the  "  temptation"  in- 
dicated, and  final  deliverance  from  it.  The 
literal  rendering  would  be,  "taking  thee  out 
from  the  hour  of  temptation,  which  is  about 
to  come  over  all  the  habitable  earth  to  try 
those  who  dwell  upon  the  earth,  I  will  keep 
thee."  The  word  rendered  "keep"  means, 
in  its  full  force,  "keep  securely."  It  is  like 
what  our  Saviour  asks  for  himself  in  John  12: 
27:  "F^ither,  save  me  from  [t/t — out  of ]  this 
hour."  The  promise,  therefore,  is  that  these 
to  whom  it  is  spoken  shall  be  kept  in  the  temp- 
tation, and  in  the  Lord's  good  time  delivered 


from  it. — Which  shall  come  upon  all  the 
world.  In  effect,  "the  world"  was  the  Ro- 
man Empire.  What  was  known  of  the  world 
was  nearly  all  included  within  tho.se  limits, 
so  that  the  expression  we  find  often  used  with 
this  meaning.  That  scene  of  persecution  in 
which  for  Christians  of  the  earlier  ages  the 
"temptation"  so  much  consisted,  had  as  we 
know  this  extent. — To  try  them  that  dwell 
upon  the  earth.  "A  sign  which  shall  be 
spoken  against  .  .  .  that  the  thoughts  of 
many  hearts  may  be  revealed."  Such  the 
"Child"  was  to  be,  and  such  he  has  ever  been. 
The  trial  (Treipao-MoO)  is  not  alone  for  Christians. 
The  world,  in  these  events,  is  put  to  the  proof 
no  le.ss,  while  in  the  vicissitudes  and  conse- 
quences of  the  long  spiritual  conflict,  "them 
that  dwell  upon  the  earth"  share. 

11.  Behold,  I  come  quickly.  "The 
word,  I  come  quickly,"  says  Hengstenberg, 
"is  applicable  to  all  times.  Where  sin  is. 
and  hostility  toward  the  church  of  the  Lord, 
there  also  the  Lord  is  near."  He  thinks  that 
the  coming  spoken  of  should  be  understood 
in  close  connection  with  ver.  10;  it  is  a  coming 
to  bring  upon  the  world  the  times  of  trial 
there  implied.  To  interpret  this  expression 
"I  come  quickly,"  wherever  it  occurs,  as 
meaning  the  Lord's  second  coming,  is  to 
force,  quite  unallowably,  the  inspired  word 
into  the  narrow  limitations  of  a  preconcep- 
tion. In  what  sense  the  words  are  to  be  taken, 
will  be  best  determined  in  each  case  by  the 
connection.  Here  they  must  point  to  a  com- 
ing of  the  Lord  in  those  providential  and 
judicial  dispensations  which  were  to  attend 
the  events  foreshadowed  in  the  warning  al- 
ready given.  The  text  followed  by  the  re- 
visers omits  the  Greek  for  "behold." — Hold 
that  fast  which  thou  hast.  The  expression 
"that  which  thou  hast"  (5  ex"«) — as  in  2:  6- 
"this  thou  hast,  that  thou  hatest  the  deeds 
of  the  Nicolaitanes" — implies  throughout 
these  messages  some  spiritual  gift,  grace,  or 
sign  of  spiritual  progress,  already  in  posses- 
sion. Two  things  are  suggested  by  the  form 
of  the  expression  here :  first,  that  this  which 
these  Christians  have  is  something  greatlj-  to 
be  desired;  and  secondly,  that  there  are  those 
who  would  snatch  it  away  from  them.     Let 


Ch.  Ill] 


REVELATIOK 


69 


12  Him  that  overconieth  will  I  make  "a  pillar  in  the 
teaiple  of  my  God,  and  he  shall  go  no  more  out:  and 
*  I  will  write  upon  him  the  name  of  my  God,  and  the 
name  of  the  city  of  my  God,  tvhich  is  "new  Jerusalem, 
which  Cometh  down  out  of  heaven  from  my  God:  ''and 
J  will  icrite  t/pun  him  my  new  name. 

13  «He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit 
Faith  unto  the  churches. 


12  crown.  He  that  overcometh,  I  will  make  him  a  pillar 
in  the  ^temple  of  my  God,  and  he  shall  go  out  thence 
no  more:  and  I  will  write  upon  him  the  name  of  my 
God,  and  the  name  of  the  city  of  my  God,  the  ne\* 
Jerusalem,  which  Cometh  down  out  of  heaven  from 

13  my  God,  and  mine  own  new  name.  He  that  hath 
an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  to  the 
churches. 


ol  Kiugs7:  'it;   Gal.  2  :  9. . .  .6  ch.  2  :  17  ;   14:  1:  22:  4.... c  G:il.4:  26  ;   Heb.  12  :  22  ;  ch.  21 :  2,  10...  .d  ch.  22:  4....e  ch.  2  :  7.- 
Or,  sanctuary :   and  »o  ihroughout  this  book. 


them  guard  it  well. — That  no  man  take  thy 

crown.  That  which  they  have  in  present 
possession  is  not  the  "crown"  ;  the  crown  is, 
rather,  that  which  they  are  to  gain  by  hold- 
ing fast  this  which  they  already  have.  Those 
who  would  "take"  their  crown  are  not  com- 
petitors for  it;  but  such  as  would  prevent 
their  attainment  of  it  by  enticing  them  to  un- 
faithfulness. 

12.  Him  that  overcometh  will  I  make 
a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  my  God.  The 
symbolism  implied  in  the  "pillar"  is  indi- 
cated in  the  words  which  follow,  and  he 
shall  go  no  more  out — with  the  emphatic 
form  of  the  negative  particle  used  (ov  ixi)),  "he 
shall  certainly" — assuredly — "never  go  out." 
The  leading  idea  is  that  of  the  firmness,  the 
fixedness,  of  the  pillar  in  its  place,  so  that 
often  it  stands  when  other  parts  of  the  build- 
ing have  fallen.  Interpreters  are  divided,  as 
to  whether  by  "temple"  shall  be  understood 
the  church  militant  or  the  church  triumph- 
ant. It  is  doubtful  if  it  be  wise  to  use  the 
term  "church"  in  this  connection  at  all. 
Let  it  be  noticed  that  the  symbol  is  of  a 
pillar  in  the  temple.  Did  the  temple  pre- 
figure the  church,  in  either  of  the  senses  just 
mentioned?  We  conceive  that  it  prefigured, 
rather,  that  New,  Spiritual,  Dispensation  of 
which  the  church  is  simply  one  feature. 
When  this  Dispensation  reaches  its  final 
consummation  in  the  completed  redemption 
of  all  the  "called"  and  the  "glorified,"  the 
temple-types  all  attain  their  ultimate  and 
perfect  fulfillment.  In  the  anticipatory  sense, 
as  we  may  say,  they  do  so  in  that  condition 
of  blessedness  into  which  saved  souls  are 
received  as  they  enter  heaven.  We  do  not 
see,  therefore,  that  the  promise  in  question 
implies  aught  else  but  the  semrity  of  the  true 
believer,  in  his  place  amongst  those  whom 
the  Lord  calls,  and  especially  in  his  final 
saved  state.  (See  General  Comments). — And  I 
will  write  upon  him  the  name  of  my 
Gody  and  the  name   of  the  city  of  my 


God,    which    is    New    Jerusalem.      The 

divine  name  to  denote  that  he  belongs  to 
God,  the  name  of  the  city  of  God  to  denote 
his  citizenship  there.  The  coming  down  of 
this  city  out  of  heaven,  points  forward  to 
what  is  said  later  in  the  book.  It  is  that  con- 
summation of  the  divine  purpose  of  grace,  in 
which  the  distinction  of  earthly  state  and 
heavenly  state  ceases,  the  redemption  being 
complete. — And  my  ncAV  name.  The  words, 
in  our  version,  'I  will  write  upon  him,"  are 
supplied,  the  sense  plainly  requiring  that  they 
shall  at  least  be  understood  in  reading.  The 
Kedeemer's  "new  name"  is  that  which  he 
acquires  in  becoming  the  Redeemer.  The 
redeemed  bear  it  to  show  that  they  belong  tp 
him. 

GENERAL   COMMENTS. 

In  the  words,  "for  thou  hast  a  little 
strength,  and  hast  kept  my  word,  and  hast 
not  denied  my  name,"  it  is  perhaps  proper 
to  see  something  antithetical  intended.  For 
the  strong — those  who  have  much  "strength  " 
— to  keep  the  Lord's  word  and  confess  his 
name,  is  less  to  be  remarked,  perhaps,  than 
when  this  fidelity  is  found  in  them  that  have 
^'little  strength."  This  we  should  say,  at  all 
events,  where  the  strength  spoken  of  refers  to 
those  elements  of  power — numbers,  social  pre- 
dominance, etc. — which  might  enable  a  comr 
munity  of  Christians  to  cope  on  more  equal 
terms  with  hostility  and  opposition.  There 
may,  however,  be  something  delusive  in  the 
appearance  of  strength  seen  in  such  a  com- 
munity. In  the  case  of  these  Seven  Churches 
in  Asia,  the  relatively  strong  are  the  weak 
ones,  while  the  weak  are  the  strong.  Even 
Ephesus  had  left  its  first  love ;  even  Per- 
gamos  and  Thyatira  had  yielded  too  much 
to  the  pernicious  false  teachers ;  Sardis  had 
become  worldly,  and  Laodicea,  though  "rich 
and  increased  with  goods,"  was  "poor,  and 
blind,  and  naked";  Philadelphia,  its  moun- 
tain home  often  shaken  by  the  earthquake, 
assailed   within  by   bitter  enemies,   few  and 


70 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  hi. 


14  And  unto  the  angel  of  the  church  of  the  Laodi- 
ceana  write  ;  "Those  things  saith  the  Amen,  *  the  faith- 
ful and  true  witness,  'the  beginning  of  the  creation 
of  Cjod ; 


14     And  to  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Laodicea  write; 
These  things  saith  the  Amen,  the  faithful  and  true 


alsa.  65:  16....i  ch.  1 :  5  ;   19:  11;  22:  6;  ver.  7....cCol.  1:  15. 


small  in  itself,  nevertheless  had  that  word 
of  supreme  applause:  Thou  "hast  kept  my 
word,  and  hast  not  denied  my  name."  What 
strength  it  had,  whetlier  in  numbers  or  in 
graces,  was  real  strength.  It  is  the  genuine 
in  this  world,  that  wins  victories. 

Something  of  this  may  also  be  implied  in 
the  symbolism  of  the  pillar.  Only  the  best 
material  is  selected  for  this  part  of  the  build- 
ing; and  because  of  its  genuine  solidity  it 
endures.  Because  of  their  own  possession  of 
this  quality  the  Philadelphian  Christians  had 
"  kept  the  word  "  of  their  Lord's  "patience"; 
had  been  steadfast  and  enduring.  They  had 
thus  far  stood,  each  as  a  pillar  in  his  place. 
They  shall  continue  thus  to  stand  in  "the 
hour  of  temptation"  that  approaches,  and  in 
the  final  redemption  they  shall  be  pillars 
again  in  the  glorious  temple  where  all  types 
are  fulfilled,  and  they  that  have  sought  "for 
glory,  and  honor  and  immortality"  receive 
"eternal  life."  To  be,  in  reality,  what  we 
are  named,  should  be  deemed  by  us,  as 
rospects  personal  attainments,  the  indis- 
pensable thing. 

In  the  description  of  the  holy  city.  New 
Jerusalem,  given  later  in  this  book  {21:22), 
we  read:  "And  I  saw  no  temple  therein." 
What  we  have  in  our  present  passage,  if  taken 
as  proposed,  might  be  thought  inconsistent 
with  this;  since  we  read,  in  the  connection, 
of  the  temple  and  the  city  in  a  way  to  imply 
that  in  the  one  the  other  is  found.  The  pas- 
sage in  21 :  22,  taken  as  a  whole,  furnishes  the 
e.xplanation.  "I  saw  no  temple  therein, /or 
the  Lord.  God  Aimighty  and  the  Ijrimh  are  the 
temple  of  it."  That  is,  the  temple  and  the 
city  are  one,  and  it  is  the  presence  of  God  and 
the  Lamb  tliat  constitutes  both.  We  are  not, 
therefore,  to  press  the  symbolism  in  either 
case  in  a  literal  way,  but  understand  that 
under  the  image  of  sensible  things,  spiritual 
things  are  set  forth.  The  final  state  of  the 
redeemed  shall  be  a.s  ifn  walled  city  had  been 
built  for  their  eternal  habitation,  and  their 
citizenship  there  shall  be  assured,  as  if  upon 
the  forehead  of  each  the  name  of  the  city,  in 
token  thereof,  were  written.     It  shall  be  as  if 


all  the  saved  had,  in  the  process  of  redeeming 
and  glorifying  grace,  "grown  into  an  holy 
temple  in  the  Lord,"  wherein  should  be  real- 
ized the  whole  purpose  of  infinite  love, 
the  types  of  the  old  temple  all  fulfilled,  and 
the  faithful  ones  all  standing  there,  fixed  and 
shining,  forever.  To  forget  that  this  is  im- 
agery, in  every  part  of  it,  is  to  mistake  in  a 
strange  way  the  divine  thought  in  it  all.  Let 
it  be  observed  that  while  we  view  the  promise 
as  addressed  to  the  whole  church,  it  is  indi- 
vidualized by  what  is  said  in  the  connection — 
"  to  him  that  overcometh."  It  is,  therefore, 
a  promise  especially  to  each  individual 
Christian.  The  Kedeemer's  "new  name" 
points  us  to  that  mission  and  mercy  of  his  in 
which  he  places  himself  in  such  a  "  new"  re- 
lation with  a  sinful  world.,  The  "name" 
represents  alike  the  person  and  the  office.  As 
Eedeemer,  he  came  in  a  new  manifestation, 
and  in  an  undertaking  unexampled  in  the 
history  of  the  universe.  His  name  of  "Em- 
manuel," God  with  us;  of  "Jesus,"  because 
he  shall  save  his  people  from  their  sins ;  of 
the  "  Lamb,"  slain  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world;  of  "Shepherd,"  leading  and  feed- 
ing, and  saving  his  flock  ;  of  "Kedeemer,"  as 
comprehending  all — these  and  this  are  his 
"new  name."  To  bear  that  name,  written 
upon  us  by  his  own  hand,  is  to  be  ourselves 
redeemed. 

14-22.  To    THE    Church   at   Laodicea. 

14.  Inscription.  —  The  angel  of  the 
church  of  the  Laodiceans.  There  is  no 
good  reason  for  the  change  in  form  made 
here  in  the  Common  Version.  A  correct 
translation  makes  the  clause  read  as  in  the 
instances  above,  "the  angel  of  the  church 
in  Laodicea." — These  things  saith  the 
Amen.  It  seems  fitting  to  connect  these 
words,  with  the  title  which  our  Lord  claims 
for  himself,  with  Isa.  65:  16:  "That  he  who 
blesseth  himself  in  the  earth  shall  bless  him- 
self in  the  God  of  truth" — (Elohe  "Amen") 
—"the  God  of  Amen"  "the  God  of  faith- 
fulness." It  is  the  very  highest  expre.ssion 
of  divinity.      "He  that  blesseth  himself  in 


Ch.  III.] 


REVELATION. 


71 


the  earth,"  says  Jehovah  by  his  prophet, 
shall  bless  himself  in  the  God  thus  revealed 
in  the  attribute  most  truly  divine,  if  such  a 
thing  could  be,  "and  he  that  sweareth  in  the 
earth" — he  who  pledges  his  own  truth  in  the 
most  solemn  way — "shall  swear"  by  him 
who  is  the  very  essence  of  truth,  and  who 
will  not  endure  untruth  or  deceit.  When, 
therefore,  our  Lord  entitles  himself  "the 
Amen,"  it  is  a  title  in  eftect  identical  with 
this  in  Isaiah,  "the  God  of  Amen" — the 
Divine  and  Faithful  One.  Ziillig  thinks 
that   this  title,   "The   Amen,"  is   used  here, 


away."  The  Greek  words  in  our  passage, 
for  "faithful  and  true  (jtio-to?  koI  aArjen'o?),' 
are  those  which  express  essential  faithfulness 
and  truth  in  the  strongest  manner. — The  be- 
ginning of  the  creation  of  God.  The 
Sinaitic  manuscript  reads,  "the  Amen  and 
the  faithful  and  true  witness,  and  the 
beginning  of  the  church  of  God."  Some 
commentators,  as  Grotius,  Wetstein,  and 
others,  before  the  discovery  of  this  manu- 
script, had  already  taken  "creation  (Krio-ews)" 
as  equivalent  to  "church  (e-cKArjcnas),"  mean- 
ing by  this  that  new  creation,  the  church,  in 


LAODICEA. — ASIA  MINCE. 


because  this  is  the  last  of  the  messages  to  the 
churches;  and  that  it  looks  back  upon  all 
which  have  gone  before,  as  being  the  solemn 
"amen"  to  them  all.  This  seems,  as  Alford 
terms  it,  "fanciful."  The  clause  which  fol- 
lows. The  faithful  and  true  witness,  is 
in  some  measure  appositional.  It  is  the 
second  time,  already,  in  this  book,  that  our 
Lord  is  styled  "the  Witness,"  and  "the 
faithful  Witness."  This  office  of  his 
seems  thus  to  be  emphasized.  We  are  re- 
minded of  his  own  declaration  in  another 
place:  "Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away, 
but  my  words  [word  of  testimony,  word  of 
promise,  word  of  threatening]  shall  not  pass 


its  large  spiritual  sense.  If  the  new  reading 
in  the  manuscript  alluded  to  may  be  accepted, 
this  will  be  plainly  the  meaning  of  the  pas- 
sage. In  either  case,  the  force  of  the  word 
"beginning  (apxi))"  is  much  the  same.  It 
means  beginning  in  the  active,  not  the  pas- 
sive sense.  It  means  "origin,"  "cause,"  with 
the  implication  also  of  "headship."  We 
should  probably  read  "creation,"  and  not 
"church,"  making  the  sense  of  the  passage 
as  a  whole,  correspond  with  that  in  John 
1:  3:  "All  things  were  made  by  him,  and 
without  him  was  not  anything  made  that  was 
made,"  and  in  Heb.  1:  2:  "By  whom  also  he 
made  the  worlds."     The  Greek  word  (i-pxn), 


72 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  hi. 


15  "I  know  thy  works,  that  thou  art  neither  cold  nor 
hot:  I  would  thou  wert  cold  or  hot. 

If)  So  then  because  thou  art  lukewarm,  and  neither 
cold  nor  hot,  I  will  spew  thee  out  of  uiy  mouth. 

17  Ik'cause  thou  sayest,  'I  am  rich,  and  increased 
with  goods,  and  have  need  ol'  nothing;  and  knowest 
not  that  thou  art  wretched,  and  miserable,  and  poor, 
and  blind,  and  naked: 


15  witness,  the  beginning  ofthe  creation  of  God:  I  know 
thy  works,  that  thou  art  neither  cold  nor  hot;  I  would 

16  thou  wert  cold  or  hot.  So  Iwcause  thou  art  lukewarm, 
and  neither  hot  nor  cold,  I  will  spew  thee  out  of  my 

17  mouth.  Because  thou  sayest,  I  am  rich,  and  have 
gotten  riches,  and  have  netkl  of  nothing ;  and  knowest 
not  that  thou  art  the  wretched  one  and  miserable  and 


over.  1 6  Hos.  12:  8;  1  Cor.  4:  8. 


however,  expresses  along  with  the  idea  of 
originating  cause,  that  of  ruler  and  prince. 
The  whole  passage,  therefore,  asserts  for  our 
Lord  that  supreme  place  which  is  so  often  in 
the  New  Testament  declared  to  be  his. 
(Comp.  the  entire  first  chapter  of  Hebrews, 
and  al.so  Rev.  17:  14). 

15-19.  Admonitiox.  I  know  thy  works. 
In  this  case  the  admonitory  words  have  a 
warning  emphasis.  As  Alford  paraphrases; 
"I  have  thy  whole  course  of  life  before  me, 
and  its  testimony  is:  "that  thou  art  neither 
cold  nor  hot.  The  spiritual  condition  of 
these  Laodicean  Christians  is  characterized 
differently  from  that  of  either  of  the  before- 
named  churches.  In  some  respects  it  re- 
sembles that  of  the  Church  in  Ephesus;  yet 
we  find  no  such  testimony  here  as  is  given 
there,  to  the  patience  and  fidelity  once  char- 
acterizing the  church,  and  still  in  some  meas- 
ure found  in  it.  The  whole  Laodicean  body 
is  spoken  of  as  fallen  into  that  "lukewarm'' 
(ver.  16)  state,  wliich  is  neither  real  life  nor 
actual  death. — I  would  thou  wert  cold 
or  hot.  Nowhere,  perhaps,  is  the  unworthi- 
ness  and  the  peril  of  a  merely  negative 
Christianity  more  forcibly  indicated  than  in 
the  fact  that  our  Lord  has  here  spoken  these 
words.  The  Laodicean  condition  is  not, 
indeed,  one  of  perfect  deadness  to  all  spirit- 
ual things;  there  is  a  feeble  life,  a  doubtful 
warmth,  and  so  far  the  condition  may  be  a 
hopeful  one.  But  while  this  comes  far  short 
of  what  ought  to  be  found  in  souls  redeemed 
by  the  blood  of  Christ  and  honored  with  the 
call  to  serve  him,  it  is  full  of  danger,  because 
resting  in  the.se  feeble  indications  of  spiritual 
life,  the  lukewarm  Christian  may  live  and 
die  onli/  "  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  God." 
I  would  thou  wert  either  the  one  or  the  other- 
says  he  who  searches  the  heart. 

16.  So  then  becau^se  thou  art  luke- 
warm, and  neither  cold  nor  hot,  I  will 
spew  thee  out  of  my  mouth.  It  should  ])e 
observed  here,  that  the  word  in  the  Greek 
above,   "heat"  (i«rTo«),  properly  means  heat 


in  its  action  upon  fluids.  So  "lukewarm" 
(xAiapbs),  means  a  lukewarm  fluid,  like  water. 
The  figure  employed  is,  therefore,  carried 
out  consistently.  The  effect  of  warm  water 
in  producing  nausea  is  well  known.  No 
reader  can  fail  to  mark  the  expressive  force 
with  which  the  Lord's  displeasure  with  the 
negative  sort  of  Christian  condition  here  de- 
scribed is  expressed.  Perhaps  the  word  dis- 
gust is  not  too  strong  a  word  to  use.  It  may 
be  well  to  notice  at  this  point  a  singular  read- 
ing in  the  Sinaitic  manuscript.  As  found  there, 
the  verse  is:  "Because  thou  art  thus  luke- 
warm, and  neither  cold  nor  hot;  refrain  thy 
ynoutli  (TTdvo-ai  ToO  (TTOAiaTos  trou),"  or  "  cease  from 
thy  mouth."  How  such  a  manifest  error  of 
reading  can  have  crept  in,  it  might  be  hard 
to  explain.  Tischendorf,  very  properly  as 
all  must  feel,  rejects  it,  and  retains  that  of 
the  received  text:   "I  will  spew  thee  out  of 

my  mouth   (m^AAu   ore   e/ueo-ai   ex  ToC  ard/iiaTd?  jiou)." 

I  am  on  the  point  of  doing  so.  It  will  be 
seen  that  the  words  do  not  express  a  final 
purpose;  but  imply  that  there  is  still  a  day 
of  grace  for  the  Laodicean  Church. 

17.  Because  thou  sayest.  It  is  ever  true 
that  none  are  .so  well  satisfied  with  their  spir- 
itual state  as  half-and-lialf  Christians.  The 
truly  spiritual  are  spiritually  se?zsi!fn?e;  they 
are  alive  to  their  own  deficiencies,  and  earn- 
estly seek  for  the  "more  grace."  The  spir- 
itually inert  are  wont  to  be  self-satisfied;  the 
name  suffices  them  for  the  reality,  and  they 
willingly  mistake  a  superficial  religimisnes.^ 
for  piety.  The  "because"  connects  the  be- 
ginning of  this  ver.*e  with  that  of  the  follow- 
ing one:  "Because.  ...  I  counsel  thee."  — 
Rich  and  increased  with  goods,  and  have 
need  of  nothing.  Alford  says,  very  truly, 
that  "from  tlic  wliole  context  it  is  evident  that 
not  outward  worldly  wealth,  but  imagined 
spiritual  riches,  are  in  question";  this  "im- 
agined .spiritual  .self-sufficingness"  being  "the 
natural  growth  of  an  outwardly  prosperous 
condition."  From  the  same  writer's  '"Pro- 
legomena" we  quote  the  following.     Of  Lao- 


Ch.  III.] 


REVELATION. 


78 


18  I  counsel  thee  "to  buy  of  me  gold  tried  in  the  fire, 
that  thou  luayest  be  rich;  and  'white  raiment,  that 
thou  mayest  be  clothed,  and  Ihal  tlie  shame  of  thy 
nakedness  do  not  appear;  and  anoint  thine  eyes  with 
eyesalve,  that  thou  mayest  see. 


18  poor  and  blind  and  naked:  I  counsel  thee  to  buy  of 
me  gold  refined  by  fire,  that  thou  mayest  l)ecome  rich; 
and  white  garments,  that  thou  mayest  clothe  thyself, 
and  that  the  shame  of  thy  nakedness  be  not  made 
manifest ;  and  eyesalve  to  anoint  thine  eyes,  that  thou 


a  Isa.  55:  1;  Matt.  13  :  44  ;  25:  9.... 6  2  Cor.  5:3;  ch.  7  :  13  ;  16:  15;  19  :  I 


dicea  he  says :  "  It  suffered  much  in  the  Mith- 
ridatic  War,  but  recovered  itself,  and  became 
a  wealthy  and  important  place,  at  the  end  of 
the  republic  and  under  the  first  emperors. 
It  was  completely  destroyed  by  the  great 
earthquake,  in  the  reign  of  Nero,  but  was  re- 
built by  the  wealth  of  its  own  citizens,  without 
help  from  the  State.  Its  state  of  prosperity 
and  carelessness  described  in  the  epistle  is  well 

illustrated  by  these  facts It  produced 

literary  men  of  great  eminence,  and  had  a 
great  medical  .school. "^And  knowest  not 
that  thou  art  wretched,  and  miserable, 
and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked.  The 
contrast  between  the  imagined  state  of  the 
Laodicean  Church  and  its  real  one  is  made 
exceedingly  striking,  and  is  expressed  in  words 
strikingly  bold  and  unsparing.  In  so  far  as 
outward  things  were  concerned,  it  was,  in 
fact,  rich,  increased  in  goods,  having  need  of 
nothing.  Because  of  this  prosperous  outward 
state  it  had,  all  too  hastily,  assumed  in  itself 
a  like  spiritual  condition.  The  Lord's  words 
show  what  utter  spiritual  poverty  may  be 
covered  by  worldly  shows  and  splendors. 

18.  I  counsel  thee  to  buy  of  me  gold 
tried  in  the  fire.  The  word  "buy,"  here, 
is  not  a  good  translation ;  or,  if  allowed  to 
stand,  for  the  sake  of  its  emphatic  force,  must 
not  be  too  literally  pressed.  The  Septuagint 
uses  the  same  word  {ayapiiu>)  at  that  place  in 
Isa.  55:  1:  "Come,  buy  wine  and  milk  with- 
out money,  and  without  price."  It  is  clear 
that  as  so  used  the  word  cannot  mean  buying 
by  paying  an  equivalent  for  that  which  is 
bought.  It  is  the  more  important  to  note  this 
distinction,  as  papistical  writers  use  the  pas- 
sage here  in  our  chapter  in  .support  of  their 
own  pernicious  doctrine  as  to  the  efficacy  of 
good  works,  i  Thus  Lyra:  "cj?ie?'e  operibus 
bonis"  "to  buy  with  good  works"  ;  and  to  a 
similar  effect  various  others,  whom  Alford 
quotes.  Stuart  trani^lates:  "I  coun.sel  thee  to 
procure  of  me  gold  tried  by  fire";  claiming 
that  the  Greek  word  does  not  always  have  the 
specific  meaning  of  buying  a  thing  by  paying 
a  price  for  it.  It  may  be  better,  however,  to 
retain  the  word  "buy"  in  the  translation,  pro- 


vided the  figurative  force  of  it  be  recognized 
in  the  exposition.  What  men  buy  they  are 
understood  to  place  a  value  upon  and  strongly 
desire.  Besides,  even  that  which  comes  to 
men  in  the  gift  of  Christ,  is  in  one  sense  con- 
ditioned, and  comes  only  to  those  in  whom 
the  conditions  are  met.  It  is,  however,  none 
the  less  a  gift,  and  is  by  no  means  to  be 
viewed  as  if  purchased  by  the  payment  for  it 
of  an  equivalent  value.  Something  of  this  is 
implied  by  our  Lord,  here,  in  representing 
the  gift  which  these  Christians  are  exhorted 
to  secure  as  "gold,"  which  in  common  usage 
is  rather  that  by  which  the  purchase  is  made, 
than  the  object  purchased;  and  when  he 
adds,  "that  thou  mayest  become  rich,"  it  is 
made  clear  that  what  he  is  recommending  is 
that  essential  wealth  which  is  rather  the  basis 
than  the  object  of  barter.  He  would  have 
them  procure  of  him  the  absolute  spiritual 
riches,  given  to  those  who  seek,  with  a  view 
to  use  for  the  glory  of  him  who  gives,  and  to 
be  sought  with  the  earnest  desire  of  him  in 
the  parable,  who  having  found  a  pearl  of 
great  price,  "went  and  sold  all  that  he  had 
and  bought  it."  Notioe,  also,  that  it  is  "gold 
tried  [purified]  in  the  fire";  that  which  is 
precious  as  freed  from  alloj',  pure  and  true. — ■ 
And  white  raiment,  that  thou  mayest  be 
clothed  [that  thou  mayest  cast  them  about 
thee],  and  that  the  shame  of  thy  naked- 
ness do  not  appear.  The  "gold"  repre- 
sents spiritual  riches  in  general;  the  "white 
raiment,"  spiritual  character.  A  contrast  is 
implied  of  this  true  adornment  with  those 
outward  ones  in  which  the  wealth  of  the 
Laodiceans  enabled  them  readily  to  indulge. 
There  is  allusion,  also,  to  the  strong  antith- 
esis in  ver.  17.  Outwardly,  in  every  worldly 
.sense,  they  were  amply  arrayed  and  adorned. 
Inwardly,  and  in  respect  to  that  in  which 
true  adornment  consists,  they  were  "naked." 
The  white  raiment  is  ottered,  that  the  shame 
of  this  nakedness  may  be  taken  away. — So 
were  they  "blind,"  and  hence  this  added 
counsel :  Anoint  thine  eyes  with  eye- 
salve, that  thou  mayest  see.  To  all  this 
they  are  "counseled";   implying,  thus,  how 


74 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  III. 


19  "As  many  as  I  love,  I  rebuke  and  chasten:  be 
zealous  therefore,  and  repent. 

20  Behold,  'I  staud  at  the  door,  and  knock:  "if  any 
man  hear  my  voice,  and  open  the  door,  <'!  will  come  in 
to  him,  and  will  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me. 

21  To  him  that  overcometh  <-will  I  grant  to  sit  with 
me  in  my  throne,  even  as  I  also  overcame,  and  am  set 
down  with  niv  Father  in  his  throne. 

22  /He  that"  hatli  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit 
saith  unto  the  churches. 


19  mayest  see.  As  many  as  I  love,  I  reprove  and  chasten : 

20  be  zealous  therefore,  and  repent.  Behold,  I  stand  at 
the  door  and  knock :  if  any  man  hear  my  voice  and 
open  the  door,  I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup 

21  with  him,  and  he  with  me.  He  that  overcometh,  1 
will  give  to  him  to  sit  down  with  me  in  my  throne, 
as  I  also  overcame,  and  sat  down  with  my  Father  in 

22  his  throne.  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  hini  hear  what 
the  Spirit  saith  to  the  churches. 


a  Job  5'  17-  ProT.  3  •  U,  12;  Heb.  12  :  5.  6;  James  1:  12 b  Cant.  5:2 c  Luke  12:  37 d  John  14  :  23 e  Matt.  19  :  28  ;  Luke 

22 :  30  ;  1  Cor.  6:2;  2  Tim.  2  :  12  ;  ch.  2 :  26,  27. . .  ./oh.  2:7. 


freely  they  act  who,  even  as  drawn  by  the 
constraining  Spirit,  come  to  Christ  for  all 
good  things. 

19.  As  many  as  I  love,  I  rebuke  and 
chasten.  These  are  surely  noticeable  words, 
as  following  upon  such  an  unsparing  exposure 
of  the  faults  of  the  Laodicean  Church.  They 
reveal  the  spirit  in  which  even  the  sharpest 
utterances  of  divine  reproof  are  made.  The 
meaning  is  that  rebuke  and  chastening  may 
be  signs  of  love,  even  where  they  indicate  dis- 
pleasure. The  words  "rebuke"  and  "chas- 
ten" themselves  imply  this.  Literally,  the 
word  for  "rebuke"  means  "bring  to  con- 
viction," and  that  for  "chasten"  {naiSevu}), 
means  "to  discipline."  To  convict  and  so 
lead  to  repentance,  and  to  discipline,  are  acts, 
not  of  judgment,  but  of  mercy. — Be  zeal- 
ous, therefore,  and  repent.  The  exhor- 
tation, "be  zealous,"  has  reference  to  that 
fault  of  spiritual  supineness,  lukewarmness, 
which  is  the  chief  fault  found  in  these  now 
addressed.  That  they  may  come  to  repent- 
ance is  the  whole  purpose  of  the  severe  dis- 
closure of  their  fault  that  has  been  made.  The 
whole  address  is  like  the  vigorous  treatment 
sometimes  found  necessary  in  rousing  the 
sleeper. 

20-22.  Promise.  Behold,  I  stand  at 
the  door,  and  knock.  Says  Stuart:  "The 
imagery  here  employed  is  that  of  the  Saviour 
as  going  around  among  the  dwellings  of  the 
Laodicean  Church,  and  paying  a  visit  to  each, 
and  holding  friendly  intercour.se  with  each." 
The  preposition"  at"  (eiri)  following  "stand" 
is  itself  followed  by  the  accusative  case,  and 
suggests  the  idea,  "having  come  to  the  door, 
lam  standing  and  knocking."  By  the  knock- 
ing must  be  understood  the  means  used,  provi- 
dential and  r)ther — including  the  message  here 
Bent — to  gain  the  attention  of  this  lukewarm 
church,  and  stir  it  to  duty. — If  any  man  hear 
my  voice.  This  implies  a  call,  in  connection 
with  the  other  form  of  summons. — And  open 


the  door.  The  entrance  of  the  Lord  is  never 
a  forced  entrance.  Whatever  of  difficulty 
there  may  be  in  mutually  adjusting  the  human 
freedom  and  the  divine  constraint,  so  that 
neither  shall  invade  the  sphere  of  the  other, 
it  is  certain  that  the  opening  of  the  door  is 
the  soul's  own  free  act. — I  will  come  in  to 
him,  and  will  sup  with  him,  and  he  with 
me.  Observe  the  reciprocity  implied.  He 
who  comes  thus  as  a  guest,  comes  laden  with 
all  spiritual  good  things,  and  is  both  guest 
and  host. 

21.  To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  grant 
to  sit  with  me  in  my  throne.  The  partici- 
pation begun  in  the  mutual  communion  just 
described  shall  be  continued,  not  only  while 
this  present  state  of  trial  and  discipline  lasts, 
but  in  that  future  state  of  glorj'  and  beatitude, 
when  the  overcoming  of  Christian  conflict 
and  victory  shall  at  last  reach  its  consumma- 
tion. The  "throne"  must  be  treated,  of 
course,  as  imagery,  and  simply  points  to  that 
participation  with  him  in  the  glory  to  which 
he  ascended  that  is  to  be  the  portion  of  his 
redeemed  ones. — Even  as  I  also  overcame, 
and  am  set  down  with  my  Father  in  his 
throne.  A  most  fitting  close  to  this  series  of 
messages  spoken  bj'  the  glorious  being  stand- 
ing in  the  midst  of  the  golden  candlesticks. 
The  divine  splendors  of  that  vision  of  the 
Lord,  so  lately  the  Crucified  One,  now  the 
Exalted  and  Reigning  One,  justify  these  words, 
"as  I  also  overcame,  and  am  set  down  with 
my  Father  in  his  throne."  That  has  come 
to  pass  of  which  in  his  humiliation  he  had 
spoken  when  he  prayed :  "And  now,  O  Fatiier, 
glorify  thou  me  with  thine  own  self  with  the 
glory  wliich  I  had  with  thee  before  the  world 
was"  (Johui7:5).  To  R  participation  in  this 
glory  he  invites  us  all. 

22.  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear 
what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches. 
"And  what  I  say  unto  you,  I  say  unto  all. 

Watch."     (Mark  13:  37). 


Ch.  IV.] 


REVELATION. 


75 


CHAPTER  IV. 


AFTER  this  I  looked,  and,  behold,  a  door  was  opened 
in  heaven:  and  "the  tirst  voice  which  I  heard  ivas 
as  it  were  of  a  trumpet  talking  with  uie;  which  said, 
'Come  up  hither,  "and  I  will  shew  thee  things  which 
must  be  hereafter. 


1  Aftkr  these  things  I  saw,  and  behold,  a  door  open- 
ed in  heaven,  and  the  first  voice  that  I  heard,  a  voice 
as  of  a  trumpet  speaking  with  me,  one  saying,  Come 
up  hither,  and  I  will  shew  thee  the  things  which  must 


och.  1:  10....6cli.  ll:12....coh.l:19;  22:6. 


GENERAL    COMMENTS. 

Christianity  of  the  Laodicean  type  is  that 
■which,  in  an  age  like  our  own,  finds  peculiar 
occasion  and  opportunity.  There  is  nothing 
to  indicate  that  the  Christians  of  Laodicea 
had  any  share  in  the  persecutions  experi- 
enced by  neighboring  churches.  They  do 
not  seem  to  have  been  disturbed  by  heresies 
of  a  pernicious  or  immoral  kind.  They  were 
prospered  in  all  worldly  circumstances.  They 
represent  to  us  an  age  in  which  persecution 
has  become  impossible;  in  which  the  false 
teacher,  if  he  appears,  bears  for  the  most  part 
a  plausible  exterior,  so  as  seriously  to  offend 
neither  formal  piety  nor  outward  morality ; 
and  in  which  Christianity  has  so  far  prevailed 
as  that  those  who  avow  it  are  no  longer  "a 
sect  everywhere  spoken  against."  The  pecu- 
liar danger  of  such  a  time  is  exactly  this 
"lukewarmness,"  which  wears  so  fair  an 
outside,  yet  which  to  the  Lord  himself  is  so 
displeasing.  "I  would  thou  wert  cold  or 
hot,"  is  what  his  word  declares  at  such  a 
time.  A  negative  Christianity — one  which 
comes  easily  into  alliance  with  the  world, 
which  selects  out  of  revealed  truth  only  that 
which  to  the  worldly  mind  is  least  offensive, 
and  amongst  the  attributes  of  Christian  char- 
acter, only  that  which  least  characterizes  "a 
peculiar  people" — such  a  Christianity  as  this, 
ruinous  to  souls,  dishonoring  to  the  very 
name  it  bears,  the  Lord  abhors.  In  our  own 
time  it  finds  only  too  ready  acceptance,  and 
i,s  onlj'  too  much  a  characteristic  of  the  age 
itself. 

In  closing  our  study  of  these  Epistles  to  the 
Seven  Churches,  we  cannot  but  remark  how 
large  a  body  of  precious  truth  is  contained  in 
them,  and  how  representative  these  churches 
are  of  the  many  varieties  of  spiritual  condi- 
tion in  which  churches  and  Christians  of  all 
ages  are  wont  to  be  found.  There  is  for  this 
reason  all  the  more  of  emphasis  in  the  words 
found  in  connection  with  each  of  these  epis- 
tles, and  with  which  the  last  of  them  is  con- 
cluded:  "He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear 
what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches." 


THE  THEOPHANY. 

1-3.  The  Vision  of  God. 

1.  After  this.  There  is  no  reason  to  sup- 
pose any  considerable  interval  of  time 
between  the  ending  of  the  vision  described 
in  Chapters  II.  and  III.,  and  the  beginning 
of  this  which  now  opens.  The  phrase,  "after 
these  things  (/utra  raOra),"  or  "afterwards," 
occurring  so  often  in  the  book,  does  not 
necessarily  imply  any  such  intervals,  but 
simply  the  successive  stages  of  the  revelation 
made. — I  looked,  and,  behold,  a  door  was 
opened.  The  word  is  simply,  "I  beheld," 
or  "I  saw"  (€l6oi').  "We  must  not  translate 
so  as  to  imply  that  John  saw  the  door  in  the 
act  of  opening.  The  exact  and  literal  ren- 
dering would  be,  "I  saw,  and  behold  a  door 
having  been  opened  (ij^oiv/ueVij,"  or  "a  door 
which  had  been  opened" — an  opened  door. 
— In  heaven. — Stuart  appears  to  take  the 
Greek  word,  here,  (ovpavoi),  as  equivalent 
to  the  Hebrew  word  "firmament  {rakiija)," 
understanding,  thus,  hy  the  door,  an  opening 
in  the  firmament  above,  as  when  at  the  bap- 
tism of  Jesus  (MMtt.3:i6)  "the  heavens  were 
opened  unto  him."  This  does  not  seem  to 
be  the  meaning  of  the  writer  in  our  passage. 
It  is  a  door  opened  "in,"  not  "'into" 
heaven.  Some  interpreters,  again,  seem  to 
regard  the  word  as  used  in  that  symbolical 
sense  in  which  by  "heaven"  is  supposed  to 
be  meant  the  church.  Thus  Gill:  "The 
phrase  is  to  be  understood  of  a  discovery 
of  things  that  were,  or  were  to  be,  in  the 
Church  of  God,  which  in  this  book  is  often 
signified  by  heaven."  Diisterdieck's  comment 
is  better,  that  the  "heaven"  is  not  to  be 
here  thought  of  as  an  arched  vault  [the 
firmament],  nor  a  temple,  but  as  the  house 
or  palace  of  God,  in  which  he  sits  enthroned. 
Subsequent  occurrences  of  the  word,  how- 
ever, make  it  doubtful  if  even  this  expresses 
the  whole  idea.  For  example,  in  ch.  12,  we 
read  of  the  woman  clothed  with  the  sun, 
the  great  red  dragon,  and  the  war  between 
Michael  and  the  dragon,  as  all  being  "in 
heaven."     We  cannot   suppose   1,hese  to  be 


76 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  IV. 


2  And  immediately  "I  was  in  the  Spirit:  and,  behold, 
'a  throne  was  set  in  heaven,  and  ohk  sat  on  the  throne. 


2  'come  to  pass  hereafter.    Straightway  I  was  in  the 
Spirit :  and  behold,  there  was  a  throne  set  in  heaven, 


och.  1:  10:  17:  3;  21:  10.... 6  Is 


.6:  1;  Jer.  17:  12;  Ezek.  )  :  26 ;  10:  1  ;  Dau.  7:9.- 
way,  etc. 


-Or,  come  to  pass.     After  these  things  straight- 


Seen  "in  the  palace,  or  house  of  God."  In 
the  same  connection  we  are  told  how  the 
tail  of  the  dragon  sweeps  to  the  earth  "the 
third  part  of  the  stars  of  heaven."  It  would 
seem,  therefore,  that  the  word  is  used  with  a 
very  broad,  and  a  somewhat  vague  meaning. 
Perhaps  we  may  best  take  it  as  implying,  in 
general,  the  scene  of  the  Apocalyptic  wonders 
exhibited  in  this  book.  These  are  seen  in 
vision,  and  in  such  a  blending,  if  we  may  so 
say,  of  the  highest  heaven  with  the  physical 
one,  or  the  firmament,  as  that  both  are 
more  or  less  implied.  On  this  Apocalyptic 
scene  a  door  is  opened,  revealing,  in  august 
pre-eminence,  that  grouping  of  transcen- 
dently  glowing  forms  composing  the  Theo- 
phany  now  to  be  described. — And  the  first 
voice  which  I  heard  was  as  it  were  of 
a  trumpet  talking  with  me.  The  literal 
and  accurate  rendering,  here,  is  very  impor- 
tant to  the  sense.  The  whole  passage  should 
read:  "I  saw,  and  behold  a  door  which 
had  been  opened  in  heaven,  and  the  voice 
[the  interjectional  form  is  continued,  as  if  it 
read,  "and  behold  the  voice,"  etc.,  the  word 
"behold"  (iSoii)  being  in  fact  repeated  in  the 
Sinaitic  manuscript]  the  first  one  (»)  <t>iovrj  i) 
Tpionj)  which  I  had  heard,  as  of  a  trumpet 
[comp.  1 :  10]  speaking  with  me."  The  mean- 
ing is,  that  he  liears  the  same  voice  which  at 
the  opening  of  the  preceding  vision  he  had 
heard.  The  angelic  attendance  is  continued 
here,  and  the  same  voice  addresses  him. — 
Which  said,  Come  up  hither.  We  are 
not,  of  course,  to  suppose  any  change  of 
bodily  presence.  It  is  well  known  how  in- 
dependent, for  a  special  purpose,  the  soul 
may  for  a  time  be  made  of  its  bodily  liabi- 
tation.  Paul  tells  us,  in  a  well-known  pas- 
sage (2Cor.  12:  2-4),  of  "a  man  in  Christ,"  him- 
self no  doubt,  "caught  up  to  the  third 
heaven"  and  made  to  hear  "unspeakable 
words."  Other  examples  of  a  like  kind  are 
upon  authentic  record.  It  is  an  ecstatic, 
trance-like  condition,  in  which  the  soul  be- 
comes independent  of  the  body  for  all  pur- 
poses of  self-transmission,  perceiving,  hcftr- 
ing,  and  knowing. — And  I  will  show  thee 
things  which  must  be   hereafter.    These 


words  should  be  especially  marked.  They 
are  a  clue  to  the  real  purpose  of  all  the 
visions  which  follow,  and  to  the  symbolism 
employed  in  relating  them.  This  one  now 
immediately  before  us,  while  it  is  a  vision,  a 
manifestation  of  God,  a  "theophany,"  does 
not  have  this  for  its  sole,  or  even  its  chief 
aim,  nor  does  it  even  attempt  to  make  any 
adequate  revelation  to  us  of  the  divine  and 
the  heavenly  glory.  It  simply  presents  to 
view,  under  a  guise  of  resplendent  imagery, 
so  much  of  the  attributes  of  the  Divine 
Being,  and  so  much  of  what  is  heavenlj^  as 
may  further  the  end  really  in  view — which  is 
to  show  things  that  must  be  hereafter. 

2.  And  immediately  I  was  in  the  Spirit. 
"Immediately  I  became  in  the  Spirit."  The 
seer  must  have  been  "in  the  Spirit"  when 
he  saw  the  door  open,  and  heard  the  voice  of 
the  angel,  since  these  things  would  be  plainly 
impossible  to  one  in  his  normal  state.  There 
came  now,  however,  as  Alford  explains,  "a 
new  accession  of  the  Spirit's  powerful  in- 
fluence."— And,  behold,  a  throne  was  set 
in  heaven.  "A  throne  lay  in  heaven," 
would  be  the  more  exact  translation.  But 
the  English  word  so  used,  would  not  convey 
an  idea  congruous  and  becoming,  in  our 
idiom.  We  never  speak  of  a  throne  as 
"laid."  "Was  placed"  would  convey  a 
wrong  impression,  as  if  the  act  of  placing  the 
throne  occurred  under  the  eye  of  the  seer. 
We  nvAy  render,  "And  lo,  a  throne  had  been 
set,  or  placed  in  heaven.'  What  is  to  be 
understood  is  that,  as  .John  in  the  S))irit  drew 
near  and  gazed  upon  the  amazing  vision  be- 
fore him,  the  object  which  first  engaged  his 
attention  was  "a  throne." — And  one  sat 
[was  sitting]  on  the  throne.  The  Divine 
Being  thus  revealed  is,  in  subsequent  parts  of 
the  book,  named  as  "God  which  sitteth  ui)on 
the  throne"  (':io),  "God  that  sat  on  the 
throne"  (is^^),  "him  that  sitteth  upon  the 
throne"  (5:i»),  where  a  plain  distinction  is 
made  between  him  who  is  thus  .«eated,  and 
"the  Lamb,"  as  also  in  6:  16,  "hide  us  from 
the  face  of  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne, 
and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb."  It  is 
God  the  Father  who  is  meant.     His  enthrone- 


Ch.  IV.] 


EEVELATIOK 


77 


3  And  he  that  sat  was  to  look  upon  like  a  jasper  and 
a  sardine  stoue:  "and  there  ivas  a  rainbow  round  about 
the  throne,  iu  sight  like  unto  an  emerald. 


3  and  one  sitting  upon  the  throne;  and  he  that  sat  was 
to  look  upon  like  a  jasper  stone  and  a  sardius:  and 
there  was  a  rainbow  round  about  the  throne,  like  an 


merit,  in  the  vision,  implies  that  supremacy 
in  point  of  office,  if  we  may  so  speak,  every- 
where in  the  New  Testament  assigned  to  him ; 
the  Second  Person  in  the  Trinity  appearing 
throughout  these  visions  in  those  offices  which 
he  assumed  as  the  Redeemer  of  men,  and 
"  Prince  of  tlie  kings  of  the  earth"  ;  and  the 
Third  Divine  Person,  under  another  sym- 
bolism, soon  to  be  noticed,  as  the  spiritual 
Enlightener  and  Purifier.  It  is  to  be  ob- 
served that  John  does  not  name  either  the 
Father,  the  Son,  or  the  Spirit,  in  this  opening 
vision  ;  his  narrative  of  what  he  saw  being 
strictly  in  accordance  with  the  impression 
made  upon  him  as  he  gazed.  He  tells  us 
simply  what  he  did  see,  without  attempting, 
at  all,  to  go  back  of  the  vision  as  it  actually 
was,  or  to  explain  the  striking  figures  that 
appeared  in  it,  otherwise  than  as  they  pre- 
sented themselves  to  him  at  the  moment. 
There  seems  no  good  reason  to  suppose,  with 
some  commentators,  that  the  Divine  Occu- 
pant of  the  throne  is  not  here  more  expressly 
indicated  because  of  any  Jewish  reserve  in 
uttering  the  name  regarded  by  Jews  as  too 
sacred  to  be  spoken.  Such  reserve  would  be 
out  of  keeping  with  the  whole  spirit  of  the  New 
Testament.  When  Jesus  taught  men  to  say 
"Our  Father,"  he  set  a  seal  of  discredit  upon 
all  whatever  which  should  make  the  divine 
name  a  name  of  dread,  save  to  its  enemies. 
3.  And  he  that  sat  was  to  look  upon 
like  a  jasper  and  a  sardine  stone.  We 
are  here  reminded  of  what  Ezekiel  saw  in  the 
vision  related  in  the  beginning  of  his  proph- 
ecy (i:*).  Out  of  that  "brightness"  which 
symbolized  the  divine  presence  and  glory, 
there  was  "as  the  color  of  amber,  out  of  the 
midst  of  the  fire" — an  amber-colored  gleam. 
Again,  in  8:3,  there  is  described,  "as  the 
appearance  of  brightness,  as  the  color  of 
amber."  Daniel  (7:9)  describes  "the  Ancient 
of  Days"  in  a  garment  white  as  snow,  and 
the  hair  of  his  head  like  the  pure  wool ;  his 
throne  was  like  the  fiery  flame,  and  his  wheels 
as  burning  fire."  More  nearly  parallel  with 
our  present  passage  is  that  in  Eev.  21  :  11, 
where,  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  "descending 
out  of  heaven  from  God,  having  the  glory  of 


God,"  it  is  said  that  "her  light  was  like  unto 
a  .stone  most  precious,  even  like  a  jasper- 
stone,  clear  as  crystal."  The  jasper  is  de- 
scribed by  ancient  writers  as  of  many  colors  : 
"purple,  cerulean,  green,  etc,"  says  Stuart, 
and  sometimes  of  a  crystal  whiteness.  It  is 
the  last  that  seems  intended  here — the  pure 
white  jasper,  "crystal-like  in  clearness." 
The  sardine-stone— sardius — was  a  red  colored 
stone — "the  blood-red  sardius,"  one  ancient 
writer  calls  it.  The  crystal  jasper  may  be 
taken  as  symbolizing  divine  holiness;  the 
blood-red  sardius  God's  punitive  righteous- 
ness. Some  interpreters  think  we  should  con- 
ceive the  description  here,  as  if  the  crystal- 
like appearance  is  seen  in  one  part,  and  the 
red  in  another— "the  clear  light  of  the  jasper 
above,  and  the  red  gleam  of  the  sardius 
below";  so  Diisterdieck  quotes  Ziillig  and 
Hengstenberg,  not,  however,  with  approba- 
tion. Diisterdieck  himself  thinks  we  should 
view  the  jasper  radiance  and  the  sardius 
radiance  as  blending  in  a  twofold  gleam 
igedojypelte  Glanz) — "a  profoundly  significant 
token  of  the  essential  oneness  of  God's  holi- 
ness and  righteousness." — And  there  was  a 
rainboAV  round  about  the  throne,  in  sight 
like  unto  an  emerald.  Soine  commenta- 
tors, as  Bengel  and  Hengstenberg,  think  we 
should  conceive  this  bow  as  encompassing  the 
encircling  thrones  of  the  twenty-four  elders, 
mentioned  in  the  next  verse.  There  is  noth- 
ing in  the  description  given  to  indicate  this. 
What  John  sees  is  evidently  like  that  which 
Ezekiel  describes  in  his  own  vision  (i:2s): 
"As  the  appearance  of  the  bow  that  is  in  the 
cloud  in  the  day  of  rain,  so  was  the  appear- 
ance of  the  brightness,  round  about";  the 
surpassing  and  over-awing  splendor  of  the 
divine  manifestation  being  thus  encircled 
with  the  reassuring  token  of  covenant  mercy. 
The  bow  may  be  viewed  as  having  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  crown  encircling  the  head  of 
the  throne,  and  of  the  august  being  seated 
there.  Whether  the  word  in  the  Greek  text 
('pi«)  should  be  translated  "rainbow,"  strictly 
with  the  meaning  commonly  attached  to  that 
word,  may  be  doubtful.  But  a  single  color  is 
here  mentioned — the  emerald  green.     Some 


78 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  IV. 


4  "And  round  about  the  throne  were  four  and  twenty 
seats:  and  upon  the  seats  I  saw  lour  and  twenty  elders 
sitting,  ''clotlied  in  white  raiment;  <^and  they  had  on 
their  heads  crowns  of  gold. 


4  emerald  to  look  upon.  And  round  about  the  throne 
were  four  and  twenty  thrones:  and  upon  the  thrones 
I  saw  four  and  twenty  elders  ^5ittiug,  arrayed  in  white 


ach.  U  :  16....&  ch.  3:4,  5;  6 :  11 ;  7:9, 13.  U;  19: 14.... ever.  10. 


think  that  we  may  simply  view  this  as  the 
predominnting  color.  It  is  safer  to  take  the 
description  as  it  reads.  For  the  same  reason, 
we  decline  the  suggestion  of  other  interpre- 
ters, that  a  blending  of  the  three  colors 
named  may  be  intended — the  jasper,  the  sar- 
dius,  and  the  emerald.  The  meaning  seems  to 
be  that  the  two  former  are  seen  united  in  the 
resplendence  of  the  divine  form  filling  the 
throne,  while  the  encompassing  bow  bears 
simply  the  soft  green  of  the  emerald.  "In 
agreement  with  the  symbolical  meaning  of 
that  twofold  gleam,"  says  Diisterdieck,  al- 
luding to  the  jasper  and  the  sardius,  "is  the 
mild  emerald,  which  indeed  in  itself  is  a 
token  of  the  divine  grace."  He  does  not  ac- 
cept, however,  Hengstenberg's  view  that  the 
bow  in  the  vision  here  is,  as  the  latter  sup- 
poses it  to  be,  always  "a  sign  of  grace  return- 
in[i  after  wraths  He  prefers  that  of  Grotius : 
"In  his  judgments  God  is  ever  mindful  of 
his  covenant."  {Deus  in  judiciis  foederis 
semper  suis  meminit).  Stuart's  remark  upon 
this  passage  is  as  follows:  "The  rainbow  (Jpi?), 
around  the  throne,  is  an  exquisite  conception. 
Such  was  the  splendor  of  the  throne,  that  the 
eye  could  not  bear  it.  It  is  softened  by  this 
beautiful  veil  cast  over  the  scene."  This 
may,  in  general,  be  accepted;  but  must  not 
be  pressed  so  far  as  to  confuse,  with  the  radi- 
ance as  a  whole,  the  distinctive  form  of  the 
bow. 

4.  The  Four  and  Twenty  Elders. 
And  round  about  the  throne  were  four 
and  twenty  seats.  The  word  for  "seats" 
is  the  same  as  for  "throne"  in  verse  2.  We 
should  read  accordingly,  "four  and  twenty 
thrones."  The  significance  of  this  will  appear 
farther  on. — And  upon  the  seats  [thrones]  I 
saw  four  and  twenty  elders  sitting, 
clothed  in  white  raiment.  The  word 
"elders"  (irpso-^urepoi/s),  is  a  title  of  dignity. 
The  elders,  here,  are  representative  persons, 
their  presence  supplying  to  this  group  of 
striking  and  significant  symbols  an  important 
element.  In  studying  the  import  of  this  feature 
of  the  vision,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  what 
John  now  sees  is  introductory  to  revelations 
soon  to  be  made  to  him  of  the  "things  which 


must  be  hereafter";  the  future  of  the  church 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  the  world  itself  in  its 
relation  thereto.  In  him  who  sits  upon  the 
throne,  the  resplendent  centre  of  this  august 
assembly,  he  sees  God,  as  holy,  just,  and  yet 
gracious.  In  the  entirety  of  the  vision,  as  we 
shall  find,  representative  forms  appear,  fore- 
shadowing the  forces  that  will  enter  into  the 
historical  events  soon  to  pass  in  panoramic 
succession  before  the  eyes  of  the  seer.  Con- 
spicuous among  these  are  those  which  repre- 
sent the  church,  or  kingdom,  of  Jesus  Christ. 
This  is  the  oiRce  assigned  in  the  vision  to  the 
occupants  of  the  twenty-four  encircling 
thrones.  So  far,  there  seems  to  be  substan- 
tial agreement  amongst  interpreters.  Upon 
the  question  why  these  representatives  of 
Christ's  spiritual  kingdom,  or  church,  should 
be  twenty-four  in  number,  opinions  differ. 
Some  fanciful  reasons  are  given,  which  need 
not  be  noticed  here.  A  more  consistent  one 
supposes  an  allusion  to  the  twenty-four 
courses  of  the  Jewish  priests,  to  one  of  which 
Zachariah,  "of  the  course  of  Abia,"  is  spoken 
of  (Luke  1  .-5)  as  belonging.  Grotius  assumes — 
with  no  evidence  to  go  upon,  however — that 
in  the  Church  at  Jerusalem  there  may  have 
been  this  number  of  elders,  and  that  this  sup- 
plies a  reason  for  what  appears  here.  Others 
take  the  number  as  denoting  the  doubling  of 
that  of  the  original  twelve  tribes,  to  indicate 
the  incoming  of  the  Gentiles  into  the  Chris- 
tian Church.  Our  own  preference  is  for  the 
view  which  takes  the  twenty-four  elders  as 
representative  of  the  twelve  heads  of  tribes 
under  the  Old  Dispensation,  and  the  twelve 
apostles  under  the  New.  How  this  view  stands 
related  to  the  general  theory  of  interpretation 
adopted  for  this  portion  of  the  book,  together 
with  the  special  significance  of  this  feature 
in  the  vision,  we  notice  more  at  large  in  the 
General  Comments  below.  The  "white  rai- 
ment" in  which  they  are  "clothed,"  explained 
elsewhere  (i9:8)  as  "the  righteousness  of 
saints,"  has  no  reference  to  the  personal  char- 
acter, of  either  patriarchs  or  apostles,  but  only 
to  the  representative  character  of  tliese  elders 
seen  in  the  vision.— And  they  had  on  their 
heads  crowns   of  gold.     The  white  robes 


Ch.  IV.] 


REVELATION. 


79 


5  And  out  of  the  throne  proceeded  "lightnings  and 
thunderings  and  voices:  'and  there  were  seven  lamps 
of  fire  burning  before  the  throne,  which  are  "the  seven 
Spirits  of  (iod. 

6  And  before  the  throne  there  was  ''a  sea  of  glass  like 
unto  crystal:  'and  in  the  midst  of  the  throne,  and 
round  about  the  throne,  were  four  beasts  full  of  eyes 
before /and  behind. 


5  garments;  and  on  their  heads  crowns  of  gold.  And 
out  of  the  throne  proceed  lightnings  and  voices  and 
thunders.  And  there  were  seven  lamps  of  tire  burn- 
ing before  the  throne,  which  are  the  seven  Spirits  of 

6  God;  and  before  the  throne,  as  it  were  a  glassy  sea 
like  unto  crystal ;  and  in  the  midst 'of  the  throne,  and 
round  about  the  throne,  four  living  creatures  full  of 


ich.  8:5;  16:  18 6  Ex.27:  23;  2  Chron.  4  :  20 ;  Ezek.  1 :  13  :  Zech.  4:2 cch.  1 :  4;  3:  I; 

e  Ezek.  1:5 /  ver.  n. 1  Ov,  be/ore. 


e....d  Ex.  38:3;  ch.  15:2. 


and  the  crowns,  as  Alford  justly  remarks, 
show  that  "these  twenty -four  elders  are  not 
angels,"  as  some  have  imagined.  These  are 
"the  rewards  of  endu7'ance" ;  rewards  prom- 
ised, as  for  example,  in  chs.  3  :  6 ;  2  :  10. 
"While  representing,  in  respect  of  official  dig- 
nity, the  spiritual  kingdom  of  God,  as  com- 
prehending both  Dispensations,  the  robed  and 
crowned  elders  represent  also  in  that  which 
they  have  thus  received — the  "white  raiment" 
and  the  "crowns" — that  holiness  of  character 
and  exaltation  of  condition  which  are  prom- 
ised to  them  who  are  faithful  unto  death. 
The  thrones  in  which  they  sit  and  the  crowns 
they  wear  are  strictly  in  accordance  with 
words  spoken  by  our  Lord  himself  in  his 
earthly  ministry,  and  with  the  whole  New 
Testament  representation  of  the  relation  which 
the  redeemed  hold  in  that  kingdom  of  grace 
wherein  they  stand.  They  are  not  as  subjects 
to  be  ruled,  but  as  participants,  as  in  the 
struggle,  so  in  the  victory  and  the  glory. 
Observe  the  "new  song"  of  the  four  beasts 
and  the  elders  in  ch.  5:  10 — "and  hast  made 
us  unto  our  God  kings  and  priests." 

5.  The  Throke  and  the  Lamp.s  of 
Fire.  And  out  of  the  throne  proceedeth 
lightnings  and  thunderings  and  voices. 
A  like  manifestation  of  the  divine  presence 
is  seen  at  Exodus  19:  16,  where  it  is  said  that 
in  the  mount  upon  which  God  descended 
"there  were  thunderings  and  lightnings,  and 
a  thick  cloud  upon  the  mount,  and  the  voice 
of  a  trumpet,  exceeding  loud."  In  Kev.  8: 
5,  as  also  11 :  19,  the  divine  majesty,  sover- 
eignty, and  might,  seem  to  be  indicated  by 
like  tokens.  Quite  consistently  with  what  is 
to  follow  in  exhibiting  the  judgments  of  God 
as  seen  in  human  history,  these  terror-striking 
signs  of  his  presence  and  power  are  given. — 
And  there  were  seven  lamps  of  fire 
burning  before  the  throne,  which  are 
the  seven  Spirits  of  God.  Mention  of 
"the  seven  Spirits  which  are  before  his 
throne''    has  already  been  made   (1  =  *).      In 


that  place,  it  seems  impossible  to  understand 
by  the  seven  Spirits,  "seven  presence-angels 
of  the  highest  rank,"  as  is  done  by  Stuart. 
It  is  inconceivable  that  in  the  words  of  solemn 
benediction  there  used,  created  beings,  of 
however  high  a  rank,  should  be  associated 
with  "him  which  is,  and  which  was,  and 
which  is  to  come,"  and  with  "Jesus  Christ, 
who  is  the  faithful  witness,  and  the  first- 
begotten  of  the  dead,  and  the  prince  of  the 
kings  of  the  earth."  Angels  are  never  in  the 
Scripture — and  never  should  be  anywhere — 
associated  thus  with  the  divine  being  in  hu- 
man invocation.  As  in  1 :  4,  so  here,  we  must 
understand  by  "the  seven  Spirits  of  God" 
the  mode  of  representation  adopted  for  the 
Holy  Spirit  himself — mentioned  here,  how- 
ever, with  reference,  not  so  much  to  his  per- 
sonality iistoh\soperatio7is.  Three  things  are 
to  be  specially  noticed:  (1)  These  are  lamps— 
they  give  light;  (2)  they  are  lamps  of  fire — 
the  element  that  both  purifies  and  consumes ; 
(3)  they  are  in  number  seven — the  number  of 
perfection.  Taking  the  lamps,  therefore,  as 
symbolizing  the  Divine  Holy  Spirit  in  his 
operations,  we  find  him  set  forth  in  them  as 
enlightening,  as  purifying,  as  consuming  dross 
and  evil,  and  as  possessing  in  liis  operation, 
as  in  his  person,  divine  perfection. 

6-8.  The  Crystal  Sea  and  the  Four 
Living  Creatures. 

6.  And  before  the  throne  there  was  a 
sea  of  glass  like  unto  crystal.  We  should 
read,  "And  before  the  throne  there  was  as  if 
(<os)  a  sea  of  glass."  The  qualifying  particle 
"as,"  or  "as  if,"  should  be  taken  as  applying 
to  the  whole  description;  not  simply  that  the 
sea  was  like  crystal ;  but  the  appearance  itself 
was  that  of  a  sea — not  an  actual  sea — but 
what  had  that  appearance.  Here  again  we 
trace  a  notable  resemblance  to  descriptions  of 
the  glory  of  God's  presence  found  in  the  Old 
Testament;  as  in  Ezek.  1:22,  where  "the 
likeness  of  the  firmament"  seen  "upon  the 
heads  of  the  living  creature"— on  this  firma- 


80 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  IV. 


7  "And  the  first  beast  u-ajs  like  a  lion,  and  the  second 
beast  like  a  calf,  and  the  third  beast  had  a  face  as  a 
man,  and  the  fourth  beast  was  like  a  flying  eagle. 


7  eyes  before  and  behind.  And  the  first  creature  was 
like  a  lion,  and  the  second  creature  like  a  calf,  and 
the  third  creature  had  a  face  as  of  a  man,  and  the 


a  Num.  2 :  2,  eto. ;  Ezek.  1 :  10 ;  10:  11. 


ment  the  throne  of  Deity  being  placed— "was 
as  the  color  of  the  terrible  crystal.  "And 
again,  in  Exodus  (2*:io),  when  Moses  and 
Aaron,  Nadab  and  Abihu,  and  seventy  of 
the  elders  of  Israel,  as  they  ascended  into  the 
mount,  "saw  the  God  of  Israel;  and  there 
was  under  his  feet  as  it  were  a  paved  work  of 
a  sapphire  stone,  and  as  it  were  the  body  of 
heaven  in  his  clearness."  Such  a  representa- 
tion as  this  crystal  sea,  appears  therefore  to 
belong  in  some  measure  to  the  Scriptural 
conception  of  God,  when  manifesting  himself 
in  the  peculiar  glory  of  his  nature.  Con- 
sistently with  the  symbolism  implied  in  the 
crystal  clearness  of  the  splendor  of  his  person, 
is  that  of  the  crystal  sea.  It  is  unwise  to  at- 
tempt specific  interpretations  of  this  symbol- 
ism; as,  with  Vitringa,  denoting  "the  certain 
and  constant  will  of  God,"  or  with  Dii^ter- 
dieck,  as  identical  with  the  "river  of  water 
of  life,"  elsewhere  spoken  of  as  "proceeding 
out  of  the  throne."  Least  of  all  can  we 
understand,  with  Ebrard,  that  "the  pure  and 
calm  sea  represents  the  creatures  in  their 
proper  relation  to  their  Creator."  The  con- 
ception appears  to  be  quite  a  general  one, 
and  to  denote,  as  Alford  expresses  it,  "the 
purity,  calmness,  and  majesty  of  God's  rule" 
— a  view  which  seems  consistent  with  the 
fact  that  upon  this  crystal  sea,  or  pavement 
like  a  shining  sea,  the  divine  throne  is  seen 
to  rest.  There  is,  also,  as  Alford  suggests, 
an  idea  of  isolation  implied.  The  seer  be- 
holds at  a  distance,  across  the  wide  expanse, 
the  throne  of  the  Divine  Majesty;  while  we 
must  suppose  that  the  encircling  thrones 
of  the  elders  are  in  like  manner  aloof  from 
the  immediate  presence  of  him,  whose  holi- 
ness and  majesty  enthrone  him  thus  in 
splendor  "which  no  man  can  approach 
unto."— And  in  the  midst  of  the  throne, 
and  round  about  the  throne,  were  four 
beasts.  As  Alford  well  says,  the  transla- 
tion of  the  Greek  word  (gwa)  by  the  word 
"beasts"  is  "the  most  unfortunate  that 
could  be  imagined."  Nothing  could  be 
more  confusing  to  one  seeking  to  form  some 
clear  idea  of  what  is  here  described,  and 
dependent  wholly  upon   the  reading  of  our 


common  English  Version.  The  Greek  word 
means  "living beings,"  or  "living creatures." 
The  former,  is  perhaps,  preferable.  It  is  used 
in  application  to  these  four  beings,  evidently, 
because  a  more  specific  term  could  not  with 
propriety  be  employed.  The  forms  seen  are 
not  those  of  men,  nor  yet  of  angels,  nor  do 
they  appear  to  have  throughout  the  likeness 
of  any  known  being.  They  are  wholly  sym- 
bolical, and  come  into  the  vision  purely  as 
such,  and  with  a  representative  intention,  as 
we  shall  see.  The  only  designation  suitable 
for  them,  therefore,  is  this  which  is  em- 
ployed— the  general,  and  in  some  sense 
vague  one  of  "living  creatures."  Of  like 
significance  is  the  word  (chay5th)  used  by 
Ezekiel  (i:  5,  lo.  13.  etc.),  and  translated  "living 
creatures,"  in  our  version.  The  word.s,  "in 
the  midst  of  the  throne,  and  round  about  the 
throne,"  are  difficult  of  explanation.  The 
four  living  beings  cannot  have  been  under  the 
throne,  as  Hengstenborg  and  Stuart  maintain ; 
because  in  ch.  5:  8,  they  are  represented  in 
a  freedom  of  action  which  makes  that  im- 
possible. The  best  interpretation  of  the 
words  is  that  which  views  these  symbolical 
beings  as  placed,  one  at  the  middle  point — 
"in  the  midst" — of  each  of  the  four  sides 
of  the  throne,  and  at  some  distance  from  it. 
This  is  the  view  taken  by  Ziillig,  Dii-;ter- 
dieck,  Alford,  and  others.— Full  of  eyes 
before  and  behind.  They  stood  facing  the 
throne,  so  that  the  eyes  in  front  and  behind 
could  be  seen  by  the  beholder.  The  signifi- 
cance of  the  words,  "full  of  eyes,"  will  be 
noticed  directly,  in  another  connection. 

7.  And  the  first  beast  Avas  like  a  lion, 
and  the  second  beast  like  a  calf,  and  the 
third  beast  had  a  face  as  a  man,  and  the 
fourth  beast  was  like  a  flying  eagle.  An 
ancient  Jewish  saying  is  quoted  (Schoettgen, 
in  Meyer)  to  this  effect:  "There  are  four 
which  take  the  first  place  in  this  world  :  man 
among  the  creatures,  the  eagle  among  birds, 
the  ox  among  cattle,  and  the  lion  among  wild 
beasts."  The  word  in  the  text  (/nocrxos),  trans- 
lated "calf,  means  rather  a  young  bul- 
lock," or  "a  steer,"  and  corresponds  to  the 
ox  in  the  symbols  of  Ezekiel's  vision  (i:io), 


Ch.  IV.] 


REVELATION. 


81 


8  And  the  four  beasts  had  each  of  thera  "six  wings 
about  him;  and  they  were  full  of  eyes  'within:  and 
they  rest  not  day  and  night,  saying,  'Holy,  holy,  holy, 
''Lord  God  Almighty,  « which  was,  and  is,  and  is  to 
to  come. 


8  fourth  creature  was  like  a  flying  eagle.  And  the  four 
living  creatures,  having  each  one  of  them  six  wings, 
are  full  of  eyes  round  about  and  within  :  and  they 
have  no  rest  day  and  night,  saying,  Holy,  holy,  holy, 
is  the  Lord  (iod,  the  Almighty,  who  was  and  who 


ilsa.6:  2 b  ver.  « c  Isa.  6:3 d  ch.  1 : 


where  also  we  find,  with  the  ox,  the  man,  the 
lion,  and  the  eagle.  The  interpretation  of 
these  symbols,  or  representative  forms — for 
such  we  must  take  them  to  be— may  be  either, 
that  they  represent  divine  attributes — as,  the 
lion  strength,  the  ox  patience,  the  man  in- 
telligence, the  eagle  swiftness — or  that  they 
represent  the  animate  creation,  in  its  four 
great  classes.  Against  the  former  of  these 
interpretations  there  lies  the  apparently  fatal 
objection  that  the  four  "living  beings"  are 
described  in  ver.  8,  as  day  and  night  giving 
praise  to  God,  and  in  ch.  5 :  8,  as,  in  company 
with  the  four  and  twenty  elders,  falling  pros- 
trate in  adoration  before  the  Lamb.  We 
cannot  suppose  it  to  be  the  design  of  the 
writer  to  represent  divine  attributes  as  thus 
offering  worship  to  God  and  the  Lamb.  The 
second  explanation  proposed  is  clearly  the 
preferable  one.  It  is  not  at  all  uncommon 
for  the  Scriptures  to  represent  the  creation  of 
God  as  offering  praise  to  him,  as  in  Psalm 
145:  10,  we  read:  "All  thy  works  shall  praise 
thee,  O  Lord"  ;  and  when  it  is  added,  "and 
thy  saints  shall  bless  thee,"  it  is  a  word  quite 
in  keeping  with  what  is  shown  us  in  the 
vision  John  describes.  In  the  two  great 
spheres  of  creation  and  redemption,  God 
manifests  himself  These  two  are  here  ex- 
hibited under  representative  forms;  the  cre- 
ated universe  in  those  four  great  classes  of 
animated  being  in  which  are  supremely  seen 
the  qualities  of  strength,  of  intelligence,  of 
patience,  and  of  swiftness — these  giving  ut- 
terance to  that  praise  which  creation  as  a 
whole  renders  to  the  Creator;  the  redeemed 
church  of  all  ages  in  the  venerable  forms  of 
patriarchs  and  apostles,  so  seated  as  to  show 
how  perfect  is  the  circle  of  God's  redeeming 
plan,  and  in  the  thrones  they  fill  showing 
how  completely  has  come  to  pass  that  .saying 
of  the  Lord:  "Ye  are  they  which  have  con- 
tinued with  me  in  my  temptations,  and  I 
appoint  unto  you  a  kingdom,  as  my  Father 
hath  appointed  unto  me,  that  ye  may  .... 
sit  on  thrones  '  .  .  .—And  the  four  beasts 
had  each  of  them  six  wings  about  him. 
A   different  pointing  will   give  to  our   text 


a  different  and  more  correct  meaning,  in 
some  respects.  The  word  {KVK\69ey)  translated 
"about  him,"  belongs  with  the  clause  next 
following.  In  a  perfectly  literal  rendering 
we  should  read :  "And  the  four  living  beings 
had  each  of  them  six  wings  apiece"  [the 
Greek  particle  {avd)  a  distributive  word  here]. 
The  expression  would  be  in  our  idioju  tauto- 
logical, but  in  the  Greek  is  emphatic.  Why 
six  wings?  If  we  may  interpret  the  sym- 
bolism as  in  the  seraphim  seen  by  Isaiah 
(6:2),  "with  twain  he" — each  seraph — "cov- 
ered his  face,  and  with  twain  he  covered  his 
feet,  and  with  twain  he  did  fly,"  we  may 
view  the  six  wings  as  used,  in  the  first  in- 
stance, to  denote  reverence  (the  face  covered 
in  the  divine  presence),  in  the  second  hu- 
mility (the  covering  of  the  feet),  and  in  the 
third  obedience  (swiftly  flying  to  do  God's 
will). — And  they  were  full  of  eyes  within. 
Correcting  the  punctuation  as  above,  we  read, 
"And  round  about  and  within  they  were  full 
of  eyes,"  so  that  the  whole  passage  will  stand: 
"And  the  four  living  beings  had  each  of 
them  six  wings  apiece ;  and  round  about  and 
within,  they  were  full  of  eyes."  This  is  partly 
a  repetition,  and  partly  a  more  full  expression 
of  what  is  said  in  ver.  6.  It  is  the  wings  here, 
which  are  represented  as  "full  of  eyes";  as 
Alford  and  Diisterdieck  explain:  "Round 
the  outside  of  each  wing,  and  up  the  inside  of 
each  [half-expanded]  wing,  and  of  the  part  of 
the  body  also  which  was  in  that  inside  recess." 
In  like  manner,  in  Ezekiel's  vision,  the  living 
wheels  are  represented  as  "full  of  eyes"  (i:i8). 
This  part  of  the  description  must  be  associated, 
if  we  would  apprehend  its  significance  prop- 
erly, with  that  which  follows. 

8-11.  Worship  of  the  Creatures,  and 
OF  THE  Redeemed. 

8.  And  they  rest  not  day  and  night, 
saying,  Holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord  God  Al- 
mighty, which  was,  and  is,  and  is  to 
come.  With  this  representation,  as  Diister- 
dieck shows,  "the  innumerable,  ever-wakeful 
eyes"  well  agree.  The  words  of  the  Psalmist, 
"Day  unto  day  uttereth  speech,  and  night 
unto  night  showeth  knowledge,"  express  the 


82 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  IV. 


9  And  when  those  beasts  give  glory  and  honour  and 
thanks  to  him  that  sat  on  the  throne,  "who  liveth  lor 
ever  and  ever, 

10  'The  four  and  twenty  elders  fall  down  before  him 
that  sat  on  the  throne,  ■'and  worship  him  that  liveth 
for  ever  and  ever,  ''and  cast  their  crowns  before  the 
throne,  saying, 

11  «Thou  art  worthy,  O  Lord,  to  receive  glory  and 
honour  and  power:  /lor  thou  hast  created  all  things, 
apd  for  thy  pleasure  they  are  and  were  created. 


9  is  and  'who  is  to  come.  And  when  the  living  crea- 
tures shall  give  glory  and  honor  and  thanks  to  him 
that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  to  him  that  liveth  -for  ever 

10  and  ever,  the  four  and  twenty  elders  shall  fall  down 
before  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  shall  wor- 
ship him  that  liveth  2Jbr  ever  and  ever,  and  shall  cast 

11  their  crowns  before  the  throne,  saying.  Worthy  art 
thou,  our  Lord  and  our  God,  to  receive  the  glory 
and  the  honor  and  the  power:  for  thou  didst  create 
all  things,  and  because  of  thy  will  they  were,  and 
were  created. 


ach.l:  18;  5:14;  15 


;  7 i  ch.  5  :  8.  14 c  ver.  9 d  ver.  4. 

ch.  10:  6. 1  Or,  who  cometh... 


..eeh.  5:  12.... /Gen.  1:1;  Acts  17:  24;  Ephes.  :<:9;  Col.  1 :  16 ; 
.2  Gr.  unto  the  ages  of  the  ages. 


same  sublime  idea.  It  should  be  noticed  how 
this  worship  of  the  four  living  beings,  repre- 
8en.sative  of  creation,  expresses  profound  and 
adoring  reverence;  confessing  with  awe  and 
adoration  the  greatness  of  God  and  the  per- 
fection of  his  character.  They  worship  him 
ag  the  Almighty  'Lord  God,  and  the  holy  One, 
the  perfect  and  the  eternal  One.  Such,  in- 
deed, is  the  witness  of  creation  to  the  Creator. 

9.  And  when  those  beasts  give  glory 
and  honor  and  thanks  to  him  that  sat 
on  the  throne,  who  liveth  forever  and 
ever. — The  translation  is  very  imperfect. 
There  is  no  word  for  "those"  in  the  correct 
tpxt.  "\Ve  should  read,  "And  when  the  liv- 
ing creatures."  The  verb  that  follows  is  in 
the  future, ".shall  give." 

10.  The  four  and  twenty  elders  fall 
down  before  him  that  sat  on  the  throne. 
We  must  read  "the  four  and  twenty  elders 
shall  fall,"  etc.,  the  verb  here  again  being  in 
the  future.  This  tense  of  the  verb,  however, 
i^  to  be  taken  in  a  frequentative,  rather  than 
■with  a  strictly  future  sense ;  the  meaning 
being,  "as  often  as."  What  we  are  told  then, 
is,  that  the  elders  join  with  the  living  crea- 
tures in  ascriptions  of  praise  and  thanksgiving 
to  him  that  sits  upon  the  throne. — And  wor- 
ship him  that  liveth  forever  and  ever. 
The  eternity  of  God  is  the  attribute  especi- 
ally recognized,  additional  to  tho.se  made  con- 
Si)icuous  in  the  theophany.  And  cast  [shall 
cast]  their  crowns  before  the  throne. 
The  act  appears  to  have  a  d<iuble  significance : 
it  recognizes  that  the  crowns  are  the  gift  of 
the  enthroned  One ;  and  it  is  an  act  of  self- 
humiliation,  as  in  the  presence  of  him  "before 
w.hom  no  creature  has  any  honor  or  glory" 
(Piisterdieck). 

11.  Saying,  Thou  art  worthy,  O  Lord, 
to  receive  glory  and  honor  and  power. 
The  iSinaitic  manuscript  reads:  "Thou  art 
■worthy,  O  Lord,  our  Lord  and  God;"  the 
Alexandrine,  "Our  Lord  and  God."     Tisch- 


endorf  adopts  the  latter.  Al ford  quotes  Diis- 
terdieck  as  noting  "that  the  word  'our' 
{rinwv),  has  a  force  here  peculiarly  belonging 
to  the  twenty-four  elders,  as  representing  the 
redeemed,  and  thus  standing  in  a  covenant 
relation  to  God  nearer  than  that  of  the  four 
living  beings." — For  thou  hast  created  all 
things.  It  is  as  Creator  that  even  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  redeemed  church  in  this 
place  are  seen  paying  him  adoration. — And 
for  thy  pleasure  they  are  and  were 
created.  Literally,  "on  account  of,"  or, 
' '  because  of  thy  will. "  The  work  of  creation 
is  an  act  of  the  divine  good  pleasure;  the 
execution  of  God's  own  infinitely  wise  pur- 
pose, the  ground  of  which  is  wholly  in  him- 
self. "Are  and  were  created"  is  a  mistran.s- 
lation.  The  first  of  the  two  verbs  is  in  a  pa.st 
tense  {^aav)  like  the  second.  We  should  read, 
"  Because  of  thy  will''  [because  thou  willedst 
it],  "they  were'^  [they  exissted],  "and  were 
created."  Their  existence  was  by  the  will  of 
God,  as  by  his  power  they  were  created.  We 
may,  perhaps,  as  this  utterance  of  praise  is  by 
representatives  of  the  redeemed  church,  un- 
derstand a  reference  to  that  more  ultimate 
purpose  of  creation  which  redemption  implies. 

GENERAL    COMMENTS. 

The  exposition  has,  in  various  instances, 
taken  note  of  the  striking  resemblance  of  the 
symbolism  of  this  vision  of  God  and  the  court 
of  heaven  to  that  which  is  found  in  Ezekiel 
and  in  Isaiah.  To  this  feature,  also,  we  have 
called  attention  in  the  Introduction,  in  our 
Analj'sis  of  the  book,  and  especially  in  notic- 
ing the  strongly  Hebraistic  character  of  the 
representation  in  this  first  division  of  the  main 
subject,  embracing  Chs.  IV.— XI.,  inclusive. 
We  regard  the  church,  in  this  portion  of  the 
book,  as  viewed  in  its  Judaico-Christian  con- 
ception ;  that  is  to  s  ay,  as  tlie  true  Israel.  The 
prophecy,  here,  accordingly  opens  in  much  the 
same  waj'  as  those  of  Ezekiel  and  Isaiah,  in 


Ch.  v.] 


REVELATION. 


83 


AND  I  saw  in  the  right  hand  of  him  that  sat  on  the 
throne  °a  book  written  within  and  on  the  baclc- 
side,  'sealed  with  seven  seals. 


CHAPTER   V. 


1     And  I  saw  'in  the  right  hand  of  him  that  sat  on 
the  throne  a  book  written  within  and  on  the  back, 


o  Ezek.  2  :  9,  10. . .  .i  Isa.  29 :  11 ;  Dan.  12  :  4. 1  Gr. 


which  God's  purposes  toward  Israel  as  a  nation 
were  to  be  dechired.  It  will  be  found,  as  we 
proceed,  that  the  symbolism  used  throughout 
this  division  of  the  book,  in  opening  up  views 
of  the  future  of  the  Christian  Church,  as  re- 
vealed to  John  and  through  him  to  the  churches 
of  his  own  and  of  each  succeeding  age,  con- 
tinues to  hold  this  resemblance  to  that  of  the 
older  prophets  named,  including,  also,  that  of 
the  prophet  Joel. 

The  grouping  of  representative  forms  in  the 
vision,  has  a  marked  significance,  when  asso- 
ciated with  what  is  revealed  of  the  Divine 
Majesty  in  its  enthronement.  God  appears  in 
those  attributes  that  most  declare  his  great- 
ness and  his  glory  as  the  infinitely  holy  and 
the  Almighty.  The  living  creatures,  sym- 
bolizing creation,  and  the  four  and  twenty 
enthroned  elders,  symbolizing  the  redeemed 
church,  represent  his  divine  work  in  its  two 
grand  spheres,  those  in  which  and  through 
which  his  character,  in  the  splendor  of  its 
infinite  excellence,  shines  forth  to  the  view  of 
all  intelligences.  As  God,  thus  glorious,  thus 
enthroned,  attended  thus  by  adoring  wit- 
nesses to  his  works  of  creation  and  redemp- 
tion, he  now  discloses  to  his  servant  the  things 
which  must  shortly  come  to  pass.  The  events 
to  be  set  forth  in  vision,  the  mighty  vicissitudes 
of  time  and  change,  the  judgments  to  be 
visited  upon  powerful  enemies  and  the  vic- 
torious deliverances  wrought  for  his  people, 
even  in  their  weakness  and  in  the  hour  of  their 
apparent  defeats— these  are  seen  to  be  all  at 
the  will  of  him  who  sits  enthroned,  encircled 
by  those  that  testify  in  adoring  worship  to 
the  wonders  wrought,  alike  when  he  made  the 
world  and  when  he  redeemed  it.  Most  fittingly 
and  significantly,  therefore,  does  this  sublime 
theophany  meet  us  at  the  very  threshold  of  the 
revelations  now  to  be  made. 

A  suggestive  remark  by  Dr.  Vaughan,  in 
his  lecture  upon  this  chapter,  may  be  added 
here:  "If  the  thought  of  the  four  living  be- 
ings which  typify  creation  has  something  of 
comfort  for  us  in  reference  to  the  world  above, 
how  much  more  that  of  men  of  our  own  flesh 
and   likeness,  who   are   already   clad   in  the 


robes  of  priesthood,  and  admitted  to  the  right 
hand  of  God  and  to  the  ministrations  of  the 
heavenly  temple !  That  world  is  not  all  peopled 
with  strange  and  unknown  forms.  Men  are 
there;  patriarchs,  prophets,  apostles;  saints 
and  martyrs;  common  men,  too,  poor  men, 
humble  men,  men  whom  we  have  known,  men 
whom  we  have  loved,  familiar  forms,  friends 
and  guides,  young  and  old,  now  made  perfect 
through  sufferings;  they  are  there;  and  one 
part,  no  doubt,  of  their  employment  is  adora- 
tion ;  they  fall  down  before  him  that  sits  on 
the  throne,  and  cast  their  crowns  before  the 
throne,  saying,  'Thou  art  worthy,  O  Lord.' 
But  this  is  not  all.  It  is  no  fancied  lesson 
which  bids  us  read  in  this  chapter  a  proof  of 
their  care  also  and  interest  in  us;  of  their 
being,  as  it  were,  members  of  a  heavenly 
council  of  which  the  subject  is  earth,  earth 
and  its  fortunes,  the  church  in  its  struggle 
with  the  world,  the  soul  of  the  Christian  com- 
batant in  its  battle  with  the  powers  of  evil." 

When  the  attending  angel  in  his  trumpet 
voice  summons  John  to  "come  up  hither," 
he  adds,  "and  I  will  show  thee  things  which 
must  be  hereafter."  This  is  equivalent  to  an 
assertion  of  the  prophetic  character  of  the 
revelations  about  to  be  made.  That  ration- 
alistic method  of  interpretation,  therefore, 
which  throws  out  the  prophetic  element,  and 
treats  the  book  as  exhibiting  matters  of  cur- 
rent or  recent  history  in  a  kind  of  allegory, 
comes  directly  in  conflict  with  what  the  book 
itself  declares  of  its  own  nature.  "Things 
which  must  be  hereafter"— that  is  its  subject. 
The  attitude  of  the  seer  is  that  of  one  fore- 
telling things  to  come.  The  alternative  is 
clear;  either  this  prophetic  character  must 
be  admitted,  and  the  theory  of  interpretation 
adjusted  accordingly,  or  the  very  integrity 
of  the  author  and  of  his  book  must  stand 
impeached. 

THE  SEALED  BOOK. 

1-4.    The  Book. 

1.  And  I  saw  in  the  right  hand  of  him 
that  sat  on  the  throne.  Properly  speak- 
ing,   the  "Revelation"   (the  dn-oKoAui/ii;)   here 


84 


EEVELATION. 


[Ch.  V. 


begins.  All  up  to  this  point  has  been  more 
or  less  preliminary  and  preparatory.  Ex- 
ceedingly significant,  too,  is  this  opening 
scene,  in  which  we  have  the  sealed  book,  and 
the  Divine  Person  who  alone  is  able  to  open 
it.  We  ought,  as  it  would  seem,  to  connect 
what  appears  here  with  the  words  of  an- 
nouncement in  ch.  1 :  1 :  "  The  Kevelation  of 
Jesus  Christ,  which  God  gave  unto  him." 
The  book  of  that  Revelation  is  now  seen  in 
("upon"  €7ri)  the  hand  of  him  that  sits  upon 
the  throne;  and,  as  appears  eventually,  it  is 
the  Lord  Jesus,  in  his  manifestation  as  the 
Redeemer,  who  takes  the  book  and  breaks 
the  seal.  In  this  way  the  two  great  facts  are 
made  evident  and  significant,  (1)  that  the  dis- 
closures here  made  of  divine  purpose,  God 
himself  makes,  while  (2)  the  medium  and  in- 
strument of  them,  is  that  same  Being  who, 
during  the  whole  course  of  human  history, 
from  that  beginning  which  is  already  upon 
record  to  that  end  which  is  still  a  prophecy, 
is  the  Daysman,  the  Mediator,  in  every  way, 
between  God  and  men.— A  book,  written 
w^ithin  and  on  the  backside.  Of  course, 
it  is  only  as  we  rightly  conceive  the  form  of 
the  book  that  we  can  understand  this  descrip- 
tion. It  is  a  book  in  the  ancient,  not  the 
modern,  form — a  roll ;  in  this  case  written 
upon  both  sides,  so  that  the  writing  appears 
botli  within  and  without;  within  &i\A  on  the 
back,  or  the  side  "Avhich,  to  one  reading  the 
inner,  was  behind"  (Alford).  Parchment 
rolls  written  in  this  way  appear  to  have  been 
called  "  opistographs,"  or  rolls  "written  on 
the  back,"  meaning  that  both  sides  were  cov- 
ered. In  the  present  case  there  seems  to  be  a 
significance  in  the  fact  of  the  roll  being  thus 
covered  in  every  part.  It  implies,  says  Al- 
ford, "  completeness  of  the  contents  as  con- 
taining the  divine  counsels;  there  was  no 
room  for  addition  to  that  which  was  writ- 
ten tiierein."  So  likewise,  Diisterdieck.  In 
Hejigstenberg's  view,  we  have  a  "prototype 
of  this  book"  at  Ezek.  2:9,  10:  "And  when 
I  looked,  behold  a  hand  was  sent  unto  me 
[reached  out  to  me]  :  and  lo,  a  roll  of  a  book 
was  therein  :  And  lie  spread  it  before  me, 
and  it  was  written  within  and  without;  and 
there  was  written  therein  lamentations,  and 
mourning,  and  woe."  Fully  carrying  out 
this  idea  that  the  Ijook  in  Ezekiel  is  the  "pro- 
totype" of  the  book  here,  Hongstenberg  un- 
derstands the  latter  also  as  filled   with  "la- 


mentations, and  mourning,  and  woe,"  or,  as 
he  quotes  Schottgen,  a  record  of  "the  sen- 
tence which  is  given  by  the  judge  and  his 
councillors  against  the  enemies  of  the  church." 
Consistently  with  this  view,  he  makes  the 
contents  of  the  Sealed  Book  include  only  so 
much  as  is  found  in  chs.  6-8:  1,  at  which 
latter  point,  he  claims,  "an  entirely  new 
series  of  revelations"  begins.  Of  this  last 
we  fail  to  find  the  needful  evidence.  The 
series  at  the  point  indicated  seems  plainly 
continuous,  save  so  far  as  new  action  is  em- 
ployed, with  another  class  of  representative 
figures  and  symbols,  to  carry  on  tlie  dis- 
closures of  divine  purpose  as  written  in  the 
book.  Besides,  nearly  the  whole  of  ch.  7 
is  occupied,  not  with  executions  of  divine 
judgment  against  enemies  of  the  church,  but 
with  grace  and  redemption  wrought  for  the 
church  itself.  It  is  much  more  natural  and 
consistent  to  view  the  book  as  covering,  in  its 
symbolical  significance,  all  the  revelations 
here  made,  down  to  the  very  end.  In  this 
figurative  sense,  the  Apocalypse,  the  revela- 
tion, is  simply  the  opening  of  the  book. — 
Sealed  with  seven  seals.  Some  commen- 
tators have  understood  by  this  that  there  were 
seven  distinct  writings,  each  with  its  separate 
seal.  Others,  as  Elliott,  in  "Hone  Apoca- 
lypticae,"  have  exercised  no  small  ingenuity 
in  showing  how  each  seal,  viewing  the  writ- 
ing as  one,  represented  a  separate  section  of 
the  whole  roll,  as  it  was  unfolded.  Alford 
seems  to  be  mistaken  in  saying  that  the  book 
was  not  to  be  "opened"  or  unrolled.  The 
opening  is  implied  in  ver.  5,  and  elsewhere. 
Stuart's  comment  is  as  follows:  "To  make 
all  parts  of  the  description  congruous,  we 
must  suppose  the  roll  to  have  a  seal  upon  the 
extreme  end  that  was  rolled  up,  which  would 
of  course  prevent  its  being  unrolled.  "When 
the  first  seal  was  broken,  the  MS.  could  be 
unrolled,  until  one  came  to  a  second  seal ; 
and  so  in  succession  of  the  rest.  Now  if 
these  seals  were  put  on  so  as  to  be  visible  at 
the  ends  of  the  roll  (which  might  easily  be 
done  by  some  small  label  attached  to  each 
seal  indicative  of  its  place),  then  John  could 
have  seen  the  seven  seals,  if  the  end  of  the 
roll  was  toward  him;  i.  e.,  he  could  at  least 
have  seen  what  indicated  their  presence." 
It  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  enter  into  all 
these  details.  They  may,  however,  aid  the 
general  conception.     It  should  be  borne  in 


Ch.  v.] 


REVELATION. 


85 


2  And  I  saw  a  strong  angel  proclaiming  with  a  loud 
voice,  Who  is  worthy  to  open  the  book,  and  to  loose  the 
seals  thereof? 

3  And  no  man  in  "heaven,  nor  in  earth,  neither 
under  the  earth,  was  able  to  open  the  book,  neither  to 
look  thereon. 

4  And  1  wept  much,  because  no  man  was  found 
worthy  to  open  and  to  read  the  book,  neither  to  look 
thereon. 


2  close  sealed  with  seven  seals.  And  I  saw  a  strong 
angel  proclaiming  with  agreat  voice, Who  is  worthy  to 

3  open  the  book,  and  to  loose  the  seals  thereof?  And 
no  one  in  the  heaven,  or  on  the  earth,  or  under  the 
earth,  was  able  to  open  the  book,  or  to  look  thereon. 

4  And  i  wept  much,  because  no  one  was  found  worthy 


mind  that  the  book  is  not  to  be  read,  nor  does 
it  have  any  other  connection  with  the  several 
visions  which  from  time  to  time  appear,  than 
as  symbolizing  that  perfect  scheme  of  divine 
purpose  and  fulfillment  with  reference  alike 
to  the  church  and  the  world,  parts  and  fea- 
ures  of  which  the  successive  visions  disclose 
in  outline.  The  seals  denote  that  these  are 
"secret"  purposes — "parts"  of  those  "ways" 
of  God,  which  are  determined  only  in  acts  of 
his  own  infinite  thought  and  infinite  will. 
The  seals  teach,  as  Hengstenberg  quotes  Vi- 
tringa,  that  "the  divine  decrees  before  they 
are  carried  into  execution,  or  have  by  God 
been  antecedently  disclosed,  are  discoverable 
by  no  one  of  the  immortal  angels  or  of  mor- 
tal men ;  they  are  shut  and  concealed  from 
all."  The  breaking  of  each  seal  indicates 
that  so  much  of  this  purpose,  whether  of 
judgment  or  of  mercy,  as  appears  in  the 
action  of  the  vision  in  that  connection  is 
disclosed. 

2.  And  I  saw  a  strong  angel  proclaim- 
ing with  a  loud  voice.  The  significance  of 
the  epithet  "strong,"  and  of  the  clause  "with 
a  loud  voice,"  closely  related  in  themselves,  is 
found  in  what  appears  in  the  verse  following. 
In  heaven,  in  earth,  and  under  the  earth,  the 
voice  is  heard. — Who  is  worthy  to  open  the 
book,  and  to  loose  the  seals  thereof? 
The  word  "worthy"  (iftos).  here,  should  prob- 
ably be  viewed  as  equivalent  to  "equal  to" 
(tKavd?),  "capable  of."  It  implies,  however, 
more  than  mere  ability ;  comprehending,  with 
the  simple  idea  of  capability,  that  of  worthi- 
ness. This  inquiry,  therefore,  sounding 
through  creation,  calls  for  one  who  shall  be  in 
every  way  the  fit  person  to  act  as  the  instru- 
ment by  whom  God  will  make  to  his  church 
and  to  the  world  these  discoveries  of  his  will. 

3.  And  no  man  in  heaven,  nor  in  earth, 
neither  under  the  earth.  We  should  read, 
"  no  one  "  (oi/Sels).  The  statement  made  is  not 
limited  to  human  beings,  but  comprehends  all 
creatures  of  God,   in   whatever  part  of  the 


universe.  The  language  used  is  evidently 
meant  to  be  absolutely  comprehensive  of 
creation.  We  must  mark  the  suggestion  as 
to  the  real  dignity  and  place  of  him  who  finally 
comes  forward  in  this  great  office,  that  what- 
ever he  may  be,  he  is  certainly  not  a  creature. 
— Was  able  to  open  the  book,  neither  to 
look  thereon.  The  Greek  word  in  the  best 
manuscripts  for  "nor,"  "neither"  (oyre  in- 
stead of  oi55e),  according  to  grammatical  usage, 
as  AViner  shows,  would  make  the  clau.se, 
"neither  to  look  thereon,"  climacteric,  as  if 
it  read,  "nor  even  so  much  as  to  look  there- 
on." The  representation  of  inability  and  un- 
worthiness  to  discharge  this  office  is  thus  made 
the  more  intensely  emphatic. — And  I  wept 
much,  because  no  man  [no  one]  was  found 
worthy  to  open  and  to  read  the  book, 
neither  to  look  thereon.  The  clause, 
"and  to  read,"  should  be  omitted.  It  is  not 
in  the  oldest  manu.scripts,  while,  as  said  before, 
the  book  was  not  to  be  read.  The  weeping 
suggests  with  v/hat  intensity  of  emotion  John 
gazes  upon  what  is  thus  before  him  in  vision. 
It  is  a  rapt  and  exalted  feeling,  not  only  mak- 
ing real  to  him  this  which  he  beholds,  but 
causing  him  to  enter  into  its  significance  with 
keenest  appreciation.  Strange  it  is  that  any 
interpreter  should  imagine  the  emotion  here 
shown  to  be  that  of  disappointed  curiosity. 
It  was,  rather,  a  feeling  occasioned  by  all  the 
circumstances  taken  together,  which  had 
awakened  expectation,  with  a  profound  sense 
of  the  magnitude  of  that  whose  disclosure 
seemed  thus  interrupted.  Deeply  impressive 
must  have  been  the  awful  silence  which  fol- 
lowed the  proclamation  by  the  "strong  angel," 
overwhelming  in  its  testimony  to  the  sacred- 
ness  of  these  sealed  mysteries  which  no  crea- 
ture must  declare,  and  yet  to  the  infinite 
momentousness  of  their  import.  The  human 
nature  of  the  beholder  fails  under  the  strain, 
and  relieves  itself  with  tears. 

5-7.  The  Lamb  in  the  Midst  of  the 
Throne. 


86 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  V. 


o  And  one  of  the  elders  saith  unto  nie,  Weep  not : 
behold,  "the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Juda,  Mhe  Koot  of 
David,  hath  i)revailed  to  open  the  book, 'and  to  loose 
the  seven  seals  thereof. 

0  And  I  beheld,  and,  lo,  in  the  midst  of  the  throne 
and  of  the  four  beasts,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  elders, 
stood  •'a  Lamb  iis  it  had  been  slain,  having  seven  horns 
and  eseven  eyes,  whicli  are  /the  seven  Spirits  of  Uod 
8eut  forth  into  all  the  earth. 


5  to  open  the  book,  or  to  look  thereon  :  and  one  of  the 
elders  saith  unto  me,  Weep  not :  behold,  the  Lion  that 
is  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  the  Koot  of  David,  hatli  over- 
come, to  open  the  book  and  the  seven  seals  thereof. 

G  And  I  saw  'in  the  midst  of  the  throne  and  of  the  four 
living  creatures,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  elders,  a 
Lamb  standing,  as  though  it  had  been  slain,  having 
seven  horus,  and  seven  eyes,  that  are  the  "^seven 


s  Gen   49-9  10;  Heb.  7  :  14...  b  I«a.  11 :  1.  10;  Rom.  15:  \2;  ch.  22  :  16 c  ver.  1:  ch.  6:1 d  I<a.  5.1:  7;  Johu  1 :  29,  36  ;  1  Pet. 

1  •  19-  ch.  13:  s'  ver.  9,  12 e  Zech.  3:  9;  4:  10..../ch.  4:  5. 1  Or,  between  the  throne  with  the /our  living  creatures,  and  the 

elders.... 2  SoBie  ancieut  auihurities  uniii seven. 


5.  And  one  of  the  elders  saith  unto  me. 

There  is  nothing  to  identify  the  elder  who 
speak.s,  although  some  of  the  ancient  com- 
mentators imagined  that  the  record  which 
Matthew  makes  of  that  saying  of  our  Lord, 
"All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and 
in  earth"  warrants  us  in  finding  him  in  the 
elder  who  now  speaks.  All  that  the  words 
before  us  justify  us  in  saying  is  that  one  of 
these  representative  persons  addresses  to  his 
brother,  not  yet  enabled  to  see  "face  to  face," 
what  shall  comfort  and  reassure  him.  We 
may  notice,  in  the  connection,  how  what 
was  still  hidden  from  John,  though  now  "in 
the  Spirit,"  and  beholding  these  wonders,  is 
represented  as  known  and  understood  by  the 
elder  who  speaks  to  him,  though  so  lately, 
like  himself,  seeing  all  spiritual  things  as 
"through  a  glass,  darkly."— Weep  not ;  be- 
hold the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Juda.  The 
reference  seems  to  be  to  the  words  of  Jacob  in 
Gen.  49:  9.  It  is  the  kingly  nature  of  the  lion 
that  is  the  subject  of  allusion.— The  Root  of 
David.  Here  the  reference  is  to  such  pas- 
sages as  Isa.  11 :  1 :  "  There  shall  come  forth  a 
rod  out  of  the  stem  of  Jesse,  and  a  branch  shall 
grow  out  of  his  roots."  The  Greek  word,  in 
our  present  passage  (pi^a),  does  not  mean 
simply  "rf)ot,"  but  as  well  the  shoot  which 
springs  from  the  root.  The  allusion  in  this 
place,  as  in  Isaiah  and  elsewhere,  seems  to  be 
to  that  oY)scurity  into  which  the  royal  line  of 
David  had  fallen — the  tree  decayed,  the  root 
surviving,  though  buried  from  sight.  From 
this  buried  root,  however,  a  new  growth 
springs.  Thits  obscure,  in  one  sense,  yet  thus 
royal  in  another,  was  the  human  lineage  of 
our  Lord. — Ilath  prevailed  to  open  the 
book,  and  to  loose  the  seven  seals  there- 
of.  The  words  "hath  j)revailed"  should  be 
regarded  as  significant  and  emphatic.  Their 
import  is,  not  merelj'  that  hy  virtue  of  the 
dignity  of  his  per.s()n,  of  his  superiority  to  all 
creatures,   not  one  of  whom  had  been  found 


worthy  to  open  the  book,  is  he  now  to  have 
thisoflSce  given  him;  but  he  "hath  prevailed," 
hath  overcome  and  triumphed  with  especial 
reference  to  this.  In  other  words,  the  office 
he  now  fills,  as  the  instrument  for  disclosing 
what  is  to  be  here  revealed,  belongs  to  him  by 
virtue  of  that  which  he  achieved  in  his  humil- 
iation, sufl^ering,  and  death.  It  is  as  one 
raised  from  that  humiliation  to  possess  again 
the  glory  which  he  hud  with  the  Father  be- 
fore the  world  was,  and  thus  become  "head 
over  all  things"  in  this  Dispensation  of 
Grace,  of  whose  coming  fortunes  disclosures 
are  now  to  be  made,  that  he  has  "prevailed  to 
open  the  book,  and  to  loose  the  seven  seals 
thereof." 

6.  And  I  beheld,  and  lo,  in  the  midst 
of  the  throne  and  of  the  four  beasts 
[^''living  creatures^'],  and  in  the  midst  of 
the  elders.  Stuart's  translation  of  the  Greek 
word  for  "in  the  mid.st  of"  (ev /uieaw),  as  "be- 
tween," is  very  singular.  It  is  evidently 
made  under  the  exegetical  stress  occasioned 
by  his  view  of  the  place  of  the  "living  crea- 
tures," as  under  and  supporting  the  throne. 
Consistently  with  this  he  must  make  the  posi- 
tion of  the  Lamb  to  be  "between"  the  throne, 
with  the  four  living  creatures  supporting  it, 
and  the  circle  of  elders.  The  correct  transla- 
tion of  the  phrase,  however,  is  that  which  our 
common  version  gives,  "in  the  midst  of." 
The  statement  in  the  text,  therefore,  must  be 
that  in  the  midst  of  the  group  made  by  the 
throne,  the  four  living  creatures,  and  the 
elders,  the  Lamb  was  standing.  His  exact 
])osition  is  not  more  precisely  given ;  yet  from 
what  appears  subsequently,  where  he  is  repre- 
sented as  taking  the  book  out  of  the  hand  of 
him  who  sits  upon  the  throne,  we  may  .sup- 
pose him  to  stand  near  the  throne,  and  partly 
at  one  side;  perhaps  upon  the  .sea  of  glass, 
♦ilthough  nothing  in  the  description  neces- 
sarily suggests  this. — Stood  a  Lamb  as  it 
had  been  slain.      Two  words  in  the  New 


Ch.  v.] 


REVELATION. 


87 


7  And  he  came  and  took  the  book  out  of  the  right 
hand  "of  him  tliat  sat  upon  the  throne. 


7  Spirits  of  God,  sent  forth  into  all  the  earth.    And  he 
came,  aud  he  Uaketh  U  out  of  the  right  hand  of  him 


-1  Gi-.  hath  taken. 


Testament  Greek  are  used  for  "Iamb" — one 
(aixv6q\  meaning  in  general  "a  lamb,"  the 
other  a  diminutive  {ipvLov).^  "a  young  lamb." 
It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  latter  is  the 
word  used  in  the  Apocalypse,  and  that  as 
among  the  New  Testament  books,  it  is  pecu- 
liar to  it,  with  a  single  exception — the  same 
word  occurring  also  at  John  21 :  15.  Else- 
where, the  former  word  (a/uvos)  is  used.  The 
diminutive,  "a  young  lamb,"  suggests  with 
peculiar  force  the  idea  of  "perfect  innocence," 
as  Stuart  says,  and  also  brings  forward  with  es- 
pecial emphasis,  that  of  a  sacrificial  and  propi- 
tiatory offering.  In  like  manner,  in  the  Old 
Testament,  as  in  Lev.  9:  3,  we  have  mention 
made  of  a  lamb  "of  the  first  year"  as  required 
to  be  taken  for  a  burnt-offering.  The  fanciful 
notion  of  Bengel,  which  Hengstenberg  seems 
to  adopt,  that  the  allusion  is  to  the  early  age 
at  which  Jesus  suffered  death,  as  compared 
with  the  long  life  of  the  patriarchs  represented 
by  the  elders,  cannot,  of  course,  be  enter- 
tained. Still,  the  exclusive  use  of  the  dimi- 
nutive term,  throughout  this  book,  with  the 
suggestion  of  tenderness  implied,  "a  young 
lamb,"  is  worthy  of  note.  It  makes  promi- 
nent the  Lord's  self-sacrifice  in' man's  behalf, 
the  meekness,  patience,  innocence,  of  his 
nature,  and  that  fulfillment  in  his  person  of 
the  types  of  the  old  law,  which  links  the  two 
Dispensations  in  one.  Of  the  significance  of 
this  grouping  of  symbolical  titles  applied  to 
him  here — "the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Juda," 
"the  Root  of  David,"  "a  young  lamb,  as  it 
had  been  slain  "^ — we  speak  below.  The  ex- 
pression, "as  it  had  been  slain,"  may  be 
given,  paraphrastically,  "as  it  had  been  slain 
in  sacrifice."  The  Greek  word  has  this  mean- 
ing. The  expression  must  indicate  that  the 
Lamb,  as  seen,  bears  upon  him  his  death- 
wounds;  the  wound  in  the  throat,  especially, 
indicated  by  the  Greek  word  (i<T<i>aytJ.ivov). 
Having  seven  horns  and  seven  eyes. 
Horns  are  symbols  of  power;  eyes,  of  dis- 
cernment and  consequent  knowledge.  The 
nuinber  "seven,"  as  elsewhere,  denotes  per- 
fection.— Which  are  the  seven  Spirits  of 
God.  Does  the  relative  clause,  here,  "which 
are,"  refer  to  both  the  horns  and  the  eyes,  or 
to   the  latter  only?     Alford   thinks  that  the 


reference  is  alone  to  the  eyes;  and  he  would 
read:  "Having  seven  horns,  and  seven  eyes, 
which  are  the  seven  Spirits  of  God."  The 
other  construction,  he  says,  "would  be,  of 
course,  grammatically  possible;  but  it  seenis 
otherwise  decided  here,  both  by  the  context, 
and  by  Zech.  4:  10:  'They  are  the  eyes  o'f 
the  Lord,  which  run  to  and  fro  through  the 
whole  earth.'  "  The  concluding  words  of  the 
verse  in  our  present  passage,  sent  forth  into 
all  the  earth,  do  truly  seem  a  direct  allusion 
to  the  passage  in  Zechariah.  It  is  hot,  how- 
ever, such  in  its  nature  as  to  necessarily  re- 
strict the  reference  in  "the  seven  Spirits  of 
God ' '  to  the  seven  ej'es  of  the  Lamb.  Neither 
does  the  context  appear  to  require  this  restric- 
tion, while  the  punctuation  and  grammatical 
arrangement  of  the  passage,  as  it  stands  in 
the  Greek,  makes  the  most  natural  construc- 
tion to  be:  "seven  horns  and  seven  eyes', 
which  are  [both  the  horns  and  the  eyes]  thfe 
seven  Spirits  of  God,  sent  forth  into  all  th'e 
earth.  "We  take,  as  in  ch.  3:  1,  the  "seven 
Spirits  of  God"  as  denoting  the  perfection  of 
divine  endowment  possessed  by  our  Lord, 
and  in  the  present  case  implying  alike  the 
divine  power  and  the  divine  wisdom  which 
he  exercises,  even  as  the  Lamb  that  had  been 
slain.  The  clause  "sent  into  all  the  earth," 
applies  to  "the  Seven  Spirits  of  God,"  and  de- 
notes the  omnipresence  of  that  S])irit  of  powet 
[the  horns]  and  wisdom  [the  eyes]  whose  per- 
fection the  number  seven  symbolizes. 

7.  And  he  came  and  took  the  book  out 
of  the  right  hand  of  him  that  sat  upon  thd 
throne.  It  is,  says  Diisterdieck  {imnothiff 
und  gescfnnacklos),  "unnecessary  and  friv- 
olous," to  inquire  whether  we  are  to  imagine 
the  Lamb  to  have  in  part  a  human  form, 
with  human  hands.  The  diflBculty,  never- 
theless, suggested  by  the  question,  in  what 
way  the  Lamb,  as  a  lamb,  could  take  the- 
book,  is  a  real  one,  and  to  dispose  of  it  in 
Diisterdieck' s  off-hand  way,  will  scarcely 
satisfy  any  student  of  the  passage.  The  ques- 
tion, here,  is  pertinent,  whether  the  Lamb, 
though  he  appears  first  in  that  form,  con- 
tinues to  retain  it.  He  certainly  does  not' 
bear  this  form  where  first,  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment,   we    find    the   word    applied    to    him,' 


88 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  V. 


8  And  when  he  had  taken  the  book,  "the  four  beasts 
and  four  and  twenty  elders  fell  down  before  the  Lauib, 
having  every  one  of  them  <- harps,  and  golden  vials  full 
of  odours, « which  are  the  prayers  of  saints. 


8  that  sat  on  the  throne.  And  when  he  had  taken 
the  book,  the  four  living  creatures  and  the  four  and 
twenty  elders  fell  down  before  the  Lamb,  having  each 
one  a  harp,  and  golden  bowls  full  of  incense,  which 


och.4:  8,  10.... 6  ch.  14:  2;  15:  2.... Pa.  141:2;  ch.8:  3,  4. 


(John  1: 29).  The  action  described  in  the  sixth 
chapter,  where  the  Lamb  opens  successively 
the  seven  seals,  suggests  the  idea  of  a  change 
such  as  that,  though  still  known  as  the  Lamb, 
he  bears  the  human  form.  In  due  time 
(19:  11),  he  is  seen  going  forth  as  leader  of 
the  armies  of  heaven,  evidently  in  form  as 
a  man.  It  does  not  seem  a  violent  construc- 
tion of  the  representation  as  it  stands  to  sup- 
pose that  in  his  first  appearance  upon  the 
scene  the  Lamb  has  the  form  which  symbol- 
izes his  oflace  as  the  suffering  Saviour;  and 
yet,  that  by  that  kind  of  change  which  con- 
sists wholly  with  the  nature  of  a  vision,  or  of 
a  dream  (in  this  latter  case  often  experienced), 
as  he  advances  to  take  the  book  out  of  the 
hand  of  him  that  sits  upon  the  throne,  he 
appears  as  a  man.  We  do  not  see  how  else 
the  action  in  this  chapter  and  the  following, 
where  the  Lamb  takes  the  book  and  breaks 
the  seals,  can  be  made  even  conceivable. 

8-10.  The  New  Song. 

8.  And  when  he  had  taken  the  book, 
the  four  beasts  [living  ones]  and  four 
and  twenty  elders  fell  down  before  the 
Lamb.  Tliat  this  is  an  act  of  real  worship, 
is  shown  by  what  appears  in  ver.  13,  where 
we  find  not  only  these  here  mentioned,  but 
the  whole  sentient  universe,  ascribing  "bless- 
ing, and  honor,  and  glory,  and  power" 
both  "  unt(j  him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne," 
and  "wnfo  the  Lamb.''''  The  significance  of 
this  we  note  in  the  "General  Comments." 
It  .should  be  observed  how  a  like  act  of  wor- 
ship is  described  in  ch.  4:  10,  11,  as  paid  to 
the  Enthroned  One,  the  divine  honors  yielded 
to  wliom  are  here  shared  by  the  Lamb. — 
Having  every  one  of  them  harps,  and 
golden  vials  full  of  odors.  It  seems 
agreed  by  critics  upon  the  construction  of 
this  passage,  that  the  participle  "having," 
(«"xo>'T«),  is  to  be  construed,  not  with  the  two 
preceding  (fwa  and  Trpecr/SiTepoi),  "beasts" 
(living  creatures)  and  "elders,"  but  only 
with  the  latter.  While  it  is  true  that  by 
grammatical  rules  the  participle  may  agree 
with  both  these  antecedents,  though  they 
differ  in  gender,  still  its  reference  is  limited 


to  the  latter,   for  two   reasons,   as  stated  by 
Alford:  (1)  It  is  unnatural  to  suppose  figures 
described  as  the  four  living  beings  are,  having 
harps  or  vials;  and  even  if  this  is  not  to  be 
pressed,  yet    (2)   it  is   inconsistent  with  the 
right  view  of   the  four  living  creatures,  as 
representing  creation,  that  they  should  pre- 
sent the  "prayers  of  the  saints";  to  which 
may  be  added   (3)   Stuart's   suggestion  that 
the    song    of    praise    for  redemption    seems 
appropriate  only  to  those  who  represent  in 
the  vision  the  redeemed  church  of  all  ages. 
"Having  every  one  of  them  harps,"  is  more 
exactly  rendered :  "  Each  one  having  a  harp," 
etc. — Which  are  the  prayers  of  the  saints. 
By   the    word     translated      "vials"    (<^i(iAas), 
Stuart  understands   "bowls  or  goblets,   hav- 
ing   more    breadth    than    depth ;    to    which 
species  of  vessels  our  word  vial,  as  now  em- 
ployed,  does    not    at  all  correspond.      Evi- 
dently a  vessel  with  a  broad  mouth  or  open- 
ing  is  designated,   for  the  incense   is    to  be 
burned  in   it,  for  the  sake  of  diffusing  over 
the    place    the    sweet  odor  which    it  would 
yield."      The   lexicon    defines  the  word  "a 
bowl,  bason,  cup,  goblet,  urn,  phial."     What 
meaning  shall  be  given  to  the  words,  "which 
are  the  prayers  of  the  saints"?     Does  this 
mean  intercessory  prayer — prayer  offered  by 
the  saints,  or  redeemed  ones,  for  those  yet  in 
the  flesh?      No  such  meaning  can  be  given  to 
the  passage  without  forcing,  out  of  all  reason, 
its  natural  and  necessary  sense.     Evidently, 
the    harps   and   the   vials,  or   bowls,  are   to 
be   treated   as    sjnnbolizing,   the  former  the 
praises.,  the  latter  the  prayers,  of  those  repre- 
sented  by  the  word    "saints"    (ayiav).      Ro- 
manist   writers,    of  course,   take    this  word 
"saints"  in  its  Romanist  sense;  one  of  them, 
Cornelius  a  Lapide,  bidding  us  "note  here, 
as  opposed   to  Vigilantius,    Luther,    Calvin, 
and  other   contemners  of  the   saints  (hafjio- 
inac/ios),  that  the  saints  pray  for  us,  and  offer 
our  prayers  to  God."     If  it  be  borne  in  mind 
that  these  elders  are  simply  symbolical  and 
representative  forms,  in  which  we  are  to  see, 
not  individual  persons,  as  such,  but  the  whole 
redeemed  Church  of  God,  as  if  present  and 


Ch.  v.] 


EEVELATIOK 


89 


9  And  "they  sung  a  new  song,  saying,  'Thou  art 
wortliy  to  take  the  book,  and  to  open  the  seals  thereof: 
'lor  thou  wast  slain,  and  '-'hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by 
thy  blood  "out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  anil 
people,  and   nation ; 

lu/Aud  hast  made  us  unto  our  God  kings  and  priests: 
and  we  shall  reign  on  the  earth. 


9  are  the  prayers  of  the  saints.  And  they  sing  a  new 
song,  saying,  Worthy  art  thou  to  take  the  book,  and 
to  open  the  seals  thereof:  lor  thou  wast  slain,  and 
didst  purchase  unto  (iod  with  thy  blood  7;ii??»  of  every 
10  tribe,  and  tongue,  and  people,  and  nation,  and  niadest 
them  to  be  unto  our  God  a  kingdom  and  priests;  and 


oPs.  40:  3;  ch.  H:  3 6  ch.  4:  11 cyev.  6 d  Acts  20  :  28;  Rom.  3-24;  1  Cor.  6  :  20  :  7  :  23  ;  Eplies.  1:7;  Col  1:14;  Heh.  9: 

12;  1  Peu  1:  18,  la;  I  Pet.  2:  1 ;  1  John  1:7;  ch.  14:  4....e  Dan.  4:1;  6  :  25 ;  cu.  7  ;  M;  11 :  9;  14:  6 /Ex.  19:  t>;  1  Pet.  2:  5,  9; 


joining  in  the  worship,  we  shall  perceive  at 
once  that  the  Romanist  view  of  the  passage 
hecomes  an  impossible  one.  The  harp,  there- 
fore, which  each  holds,  is  a  symbol  of  the 
praise  every  redeemed  one  oilers  to  the  God 
of  his  salvation  and  to  the  Lamb  slain  for 
him.  The  golden  bowl,  or  censer,  smoking 
with  incense,  symbolizes,  in  general,  the 
preciousness  and  acceptableness  of  prayer 
in  the  name  of  Jesus — "set"  before  him  "as 
incense,"  (p^.  i4i:  2).  The  idea  of  intercessory 
office  or  action  is  nowhere  here  implied. 

9.  And  they  sung  a  new  song.  It  should 
read:  "And  they  sing  {ahovKnv)  a  new  song," 
the  verl)  being  in  the  present  tense.  The 
description  is  thus  made  more  vivid,  and  as 
if,  even  as  he  relates  his  vision,  John  hears 
still  the  notes  of  the  new  song.  In  what 
sense  new?  Since  the  song  is  the  song  of  all 
the  redeemed,  in  every  age  and  in  every 
nation  since  the  world  began,  now  repre- 
sented in  these  symbolical  persons  of  the 
vision,  is  it  not  rather  the  old  song,  the  song 
of  all  the  ages?  It  is  thus  new,  because 
never  heard  in  all  the  ages  of  the  past  up  to 
the  time  when  redemption  for  man  was  first 
proclaimed.  It  is  the  song,  too,  which,  how- 
ever old  it  may  be,  is  forever  new — the  song  of 
the  redeemed.  It  is  new,  also,  and  especially, 
in  the  sense  that  it  recognizes  here  a  new 
phase  in  the  office  and  work  of  him  to  whom, 
in  the  song,  praise  is  given.  It  .should  be 
Dbserved  that  the  word  here  translated  "new" 
[k(iivt\v^,  denotes  what  is  new  in  kind,  not  new 
in  point  of  time,  to  express  which  a  different 
svord  (vio^)  is  employed.  The  special  force  of 
the  word  in  this  place  we  see  more  clearly  as 
we  mark  the  import  of  the  song. — Thou  art 
worthy  to  take  the  book,  and  to  open  the 
seals  thereof.  The  Lamb  slain  comes  for- 
ward in  a  new  manifestation  of  his  wonderful 
being,  and  in  new  acts  of  that  mediatorial 
sovereignty  to  which  he  has  been  raised.  It 
is  he  alone  in  the  universe  who  is  found 
"  worthy  to  take  the  book  and  to  open  the 


j  seals  thereof"  ;  he  alone  who  may  become 
the  instrument  of  this  Revelation,   as  he  is 

I  also  of  the  redemption  wrought  by  his  blood. 

I  — For  thou  Avast  slain.  Diisterdieck  justly 
points  out  that  in  these  several  verbs,  "wast 
slain,"  "hast  redeemed"  ("rfic^si"  redeem), 
"hast  made"  {^^ didst  make),  are  indicated  the 
grounds  of  the  worthiness  to  take  the  book 
and  loose  its  seals.  The  clause  is  introduced 
by  a  causal  conjunction  "because"  (on).  But 
all  these  imply  that  in  the  Lamb  which  is 
the  ultimate  and  supreme  reason  for  all. 
Only  as  one  entitled  in  himself  to  the  praise 
and  worship  here  given  to  him  as  one  divine, 
was  he  able  thus  to  redeem  and  exalt  his 
people.  Because  of  what  he  is  as  the  Re- 
deemer, and  what  he  has  done  in  the  redemp- 
tion, is  he  now  "worthy"  to  take  upon  him 
this  other  great  office. — And  hast  redeemed 
[pKrchosed]  us  to  God  by  thy  blood.  The 
Alexandrine  manuscript  omits  "us"  (Afias), 
and  Alford  and  Diisterdieck  both  reject  it  as 
an  interpolation.  Tischendorf  also  omits  it. 
If  this  reading  be  accepted,  the  object  of  the 
verb  "redeem,"  must  be  regarded  as  unex- 
pressed; so  that  we  .should  translate,  "hast  re- 
deemed (didst  redeem)  to  God  by  thy  blood," 
simply  the  general  fact  of  the  redemption 
being  stated.  The  word  "persons,"  or  some- 
thing equivalent  would  naturally  be  supplied, 
the  verb  "redeem"  (redeeming  by  purchase) 
being  transitive.  Out  of  every  kindred, 
["tribe,"  <i>vK^<;)  and  tongue,  and  people, 
and  nation.  This  repetition  seems  to  be 
chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  emphasis.  Alford 
thinks  that  "the  quadruple  number^''  indi- 
cates "universality'."  That  seems  rather  a 
strained  view. 

10.  And  hast  made  us  unto  our  God 
kings  and  priests.  Here,  again,  we  must 
note  variations  in  the  reading  of  the  origi- 
nal text.  Instead  of  "us"  {rifLa.<i),  the  oldest 
manuscripts  have  "them"  (outou?).  The 
words,  "kings  and  priests,"  become  "a  king- 
dom and  a  priesthood,"  according  to  the  Si- 


90 


EEVELATION. 


[Ch.  V. 


11  And  I  beheld,  and  I  heard  the  voice  of  many 
angels  ■■  round  about  the  throne,  and  the  beasts,  and  the 
elders:  and  the  number  of  them  was  'ten  thousand 
times  ten  thousand,  and  thousands  of  thousands; 

12  Saying  with  a  loud  voice,  "Worthy  is  the  Lamb 
that  was  slain  to  receive  power,  and  riches,  and  wisdom, 
and  strength,  and  honour,  and  glory,  and  blessing. 


11  they  reign  upon  the  earth.  And  I  saw,  and  I  heard  a 
voice  of  many  angels  round  about  the  throne  and  the 
living  creatures  and  the  elders ;  and  the  number  of 
them  was  ten  thousand  limes  ten  thousand,  and  thon- 

12  sands  of  thousands  ;  saying  with  a  great  voice,\Vorthy 
is  the  Lamb  that  hath  been  slain  to  receive  the  power, 
and  riches,  and  wisdom,  and  might,  and  honour,  and 


ach.  4:4,  6.... 6  Pa.  68:  17;  D.iu.  7:  10;  Heb.  12  :  22....C  ch.  4:  U. 


naitic  maniLscript,  and  "a  kingdom  and 
priests,"  according  to  the  Alexandrine.  Tisch- 
endorf  adopts  the  reading,  "a  kingdom  and 
priests,"  which  it  is  probably  safest  to  follow. 
We  should  then  read,  "  and  hast  made  them 
to  our  God  a  kingdom  and  priests" — in  the 
sense  already  noticed;  as  sharing,  by  their 
union  with  him,  the  kingship  and  priesthood 
of  the  Redeemer  himself.  The  words  cannot 
imply  a  priestly  or  intercessory  office  in  such 
heavenly  beings  as  those  elders  in  the  vision, 
in  any  such  sense  as  Romanists  claim  ;  for,  in 
the  parallel  passage  at  Rev.  1:  6— "and  hath 
made  us  a  kingdom  and  priests  unto  God"  — 
the  very  same  thing  is  said  in  evident  appli- 
cation to  all  who  belong  to  Christ,  whether  in 
earth  or  in  heaven. — And  we  shall  reign 
on  the  earth.  Consistently  with  the  changed 
reading  above,  w.e  must  read,  here,  either, 
according  to  the  Sinaitic  manuscript,  '.'they 
shall  reign,"  or  the  Alexandrine,  "they 
reign."  This  reign  upon  the  earth  can  no 
otherwise  be  understood  than  as  the  partici- 
pation of  the  redeemed  in  the  ever  advancing 
triumph  and  conquest  of  the  Redeemer's 
kingdom.  The  revelations  soon  to  be  made 
will  exhibit  this  kingdom  in  a  scene  of 
struggle,  and  sometimes  of  apparent  defeat; 
yet  as  ultimately  triumphing,  till  at  last 
"every  knee  shall  bow,  and  every  tongue 
shall  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord."  So 
are  his  people  one  with  him,  that  his  triumph 
is  theirs,  and  his  glorious  kingdom  theirs 
also.  It  will  be  seen  from  this  whole  view  of 
the  passage,  with  its  corrected  readings,  that 
the  elders  in  the  vision  are  ofiering  praise 
and  adoration  to  the  Lamb,  not  on  account 
of  their  own  salvation,  but  because  of  what 
they  behold  in  redemption  itself,  with  its 
wonder-working  achievements. 

11-14.  Thk  Angelic  Response,  and 
Chokus  of  Creation. 

11.  And  I  beheld,  and  I  heard  the 
voice  of  many  angels  ronnd  about  the 
throne,  and  the  beasts,  and  the  elders. 
The  meaning  will  be  more  clear  if  we  read. 


"I  saw."  What  John  says  is,  "I  saw,  and  I 
heard,"  or,  "I  saw  and  heard."  The  choir 
of  angels  was  visible  to  him,  at  the  same 
time  that  he  heard  them.  They  appeared  as 
encompassing  the  entire  group  previously 
seen,  "the  throne  and  the  living  beings  and 
the  elders."  Thus  he  has  before  him  what 
represents  the  intelligent  and  sentient  uni- 
verse, Creator  and  creature;  the  Divine 
Trinity,  as  reigning,  as  redeeming,  as  illumi- 
nating and  regenerating — Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Spirit;  the  redeemed  churcii,  "the 
innumerable  company  of  angels,"  and  even 
the  creation  itself,  in  the  representative  forms 
which  appear  as  symbolizing  it. — And  the 
number  of  them  was  ten  thousand  times 
ten  thousand,  and  thousands  of  thou- 
sands. "Myriads  of  myriads,  and  tliou- 
sands  of  thousands."  There  is  no  attempt  at 
expressing  a  definite  number,  but  simply  a 
representation  of  the  angelic  host  as  innu- 
merable. 

12.  Saying  with  a  loud  voice.  What  fol- 
lows is  the  utterance  of  the  angels,  as  they 
join  in  a  united  acclaim  of  adoration  and 
praise. — Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was 
slain.  It  should  be  especially  remarked  that 
this  angelic  chorus  of  praise  is  in  honor  of 
the  Lamb. — To  receive  power,  and  riches, 
and  Avisdom,  and  strength,  and  honour, 
and  glory,  and  blessing.  "To  receive" 
ascriptions  of,  is  the  meaning.  We  should 
observe  that  the  like  ascription,  though  with 
fewer  particulars  named,  in  the  verse  follow- 
ing, is  made,  "unto  him  that  sitteth  upon  the 
throne,"  as  well  as  "unto  the  Lamb."  These 
are,  then,  divine  honors  which  the  Lamb  re- 
ceives, and  the  attributions  made  of  "power, 
and  wisdom,"  etc.,  should  be  interj)roted  ac- 
cordingly; "power,"  as  denoting  almighti- 
ness,  "wisdom,"  as  this  attribute  in  its  divine 
and  infinite  sense,  "riches,"  "all  the  fullness 
of  the  Godiiead"  (Coi.2:9),  and  "strength," 
efficient  n)ight,  "honor,"  that  honor  which 
in  tlie  verse  below  is  given  to  God  himself; 
and  so  with  the  "glory"  and  the  "blessing," 


Ch.  v.] 


REVELATION. 


91 


13  And  "every  creature  which  is  in  heaven,  and  on 
the  earth,  and  under  the  earth,  and  such  as  are  in  the 
sea,  and  all  that  are  in  them,  heard  1  saying,  'Blessing, 
and  honour,  and  glory,  and  power,  he  unto  him  "that 
sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb  I'or  ever 
and  ever. 

14  ''And  the  four  beasts  said.  Amen.  And  the  four 
and  twenty  elders  fell  down  and  worshipped  him  «lhat 
liveth  lor  ever  and  ever. 


13  glory,  and  blessing.  And  every  created  thing  that 
is  in  the  heaven,  and  on  the  earth,  and  under  the 
earth,  and  on  the  .sea,  and  all  things  that  are  in  them, 
hoard  I  .saying,  Unto  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne, 
and  unto  the  Lamb,  he.  the  ble.ssing,  and  the  honour, 
and  the  glory,  and  the  dominion,  ifor  ever  and  ever. 

14  And  the  four  living  creatures  said,  Amen.  And  the 
elders  fell  down  and  worshipped. 


J;  1  Tim.  6:  16;  1  PbI.  4:  11  ;  ! 
-1  Gr.  unto  the  ages  of  the  age 


;ch.  6:  16:  7:  10. 


the  latter  word  being  employed,  as  Alford 
says,  "in  the  sense  so  frequent  when  the  word 
and  its  cognate  verb  are  u.sed  of  an  act  pass- 
ing from  man  to  God,  viz.,  that  of  ascribed 
praise." 

13.  And  every  creature  Avhich  is  in 
heaven,  and  on  the  earth,  and  under  the 
earth,  and  such  as  are  in  the  sea,  and 
all  that  are  in  them,  heard  I,  saying. 
The  Sinaitic  manuscript  omits  "and  under 
the  eartli."  If  retained,  the  clause  will  de- 
note simply  the  world  of  spirits,  the  "under- 
world." Ti-schendorf,  and  other  authorities, 
retain  it. — Blessing,  and  honour,  and 
glory,  and  power,  be  unto  him  that  sitteth 
upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb, 
forever  and  ever.  The  praise  rendered  to 
the  Lamb  by  the  chorus  of  angels  is  re-echoed 
by  the  universe  of  created  being,  he  that  sit- 
teth upon  the  throne  being  included  in  the 
worship  thus  paid. 

14.  And  the  four  beasts  said.  Amen.  To 
the  chorus  of  creation  the  four  living  beings, 
as  its  terrestrial  representatives,  respond. — 
And  the  four  and  twenty  elders  fell  down 
and  worshipped  him  that  liveth  forever 
and  ever.  The  corrected  reading,  followed 
by  Tischendorf  and  the  new  revision  is,  "And 
the  elders  fell  down  and  worshipped."  The 
picture  is  a  wonderful  one ;  the  sweet,  resound- 
ing chorus  of  the  angelic  host;  the  assenting 
response  of  creation,  swelling  its  own  acclaim 
of  praise  in  the  mingled  voices  of  all  crea- 
tures, the  harmony  filling  the  universe;  as 
these  die  away,  the  solemn  "Amen"  of  the 
four  living  beings;  and  last  of  all,  the  silent 
adoration  of  the  elders,  as  they  lie  prostrate 
before  the  throne. 

GENERAL    COMMENTS. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  do  much  more  than 
simply  mention  some  of  the  various  opinions 
held  by  commentators  as  to  what  is  imported, 
in  the  vision,  by  the  book  with  seven  seals ; 
such  as  (1)  that  it  denoted  the  Old  Testament, 


or  the  book  of  ancient  prophecy,  "sealed  till 
the  time  of  the  end"  (Origen,  Eusebiu.s, 
Epiphanius,  Victorinus,  Augustine,  Jerome, 
and  in  fact  most  ancient  authors).  This  view 
is  implied  in  that  wider  one  which  is  here 
preferred,  viz.,  that  the  sealed  book  denotes 
the  as  yet  unrevealed  divine  purpose,  fore- 
shadowed in  ancient  prophecies,  and  now 
more  fully  disclosed,  though  still  couched  in 
vision  and  symbol.  The  idea  held,  however, 
by  many  of  the  old  writers  alluded  to — that 
the  Apocalypse  simply  brings  to  light  in  its 
fulfillment  the  scheme  of  redemption  as  in- 
timated in  Old  Testament  prophecies — is  in- 
consistent with  what  is  said  in  Rev.  1 :  1,  that 
this  "Revelationof  Jesus  Christ"  is  "toshow 
unto  his  servants  things  which  must,"  at  the 
time  it  was  given,  "shortly  come  to  pass" — • 
that  is  to  say,  things  then  future;  whereas, 
the  types  of  ancient  prophecy  had  then 
already  been  fulfilled  in  the  person,  and  min- 
istry, and  suflfering  of  the  Lord.  Yet  so  far 
as  those  older  prophecies  related  to  the  king- 
dom of  God,  in  its  broad  sense,  and  specially 
in  its  relation  to  human  history  in  all  ages, 
they  may,  in  a  general  way,  be  taken  as  im- 
plied in  the  contents  of  the  book  held  in  the 
hand  of  the  Enthroned  One.  (2)  Wetstein's 
notion  that  the  sealed  book  is  "God's  writing 
of  divorce  against  the  Jewish  nation,"  is  too 
fixnciful  to  even  need  attention.  (3)  We  have 
already  noticed  the  view  of  Hengstenberg, 
who  follows  Schottgen,  that  the  "book  records 
the  sentence,  which  is  given  bj'  the  judge  and 
the  councillors  [as  such  he  takes  the  enthroned 
Deity  with  the  encircling  group  of  elders] 
against  the  enemies  of  the  church";  a  view, 
as  we  have  seen,  altogether  too  restricted. 
(4)  Others  take  it  as  the  Apocalypse,  itself, 
qualifying  this,  however,  with  the  addition 
that  the  book  represents  the  counsels  of  di- 
vine Providence,  with  reference  to  the  church 
and  the  world.  The  most  simple  and  natural 
view  is  the  safe  one.  The  place  of  the  book, 
in  the  vision,  like  the  whole  scene  to  which  it 


92 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  V. 


belongs,  is  symbolical,  and  is  to  be  interpreted 
in  its  relation  to  all  else  that  is  here  present  to 
the  eye  of  the  seer.  "Things  which  must 
shortly  come  to  pass,"  are  about  to  be  ex- 
hibited to  him,  in  vision  and  symbol.  What 
they  import  is  implied  in  the  book.  They  are 
fulfillments  of  divine  purpose,  and  of  that 
purpose  this  book  is  the  reOord.  Its  seals  de- 
note that  "secrecy"  in  which  this  purpose 
has  hitherto  lain  in  the  mind  of  God.  The 
breaking  of  each  seal  indicates  the  disclosure 
of  so  viHch  of  divine  purpose.  In  this  sense 
the  book  is  the  Apocalypse;  only  not  as  a  book 
to  be  opened  and  read,  but  as  the  Apocalyptic 
symbol. 

We  s{3eak  of  that  which  follows  the  opening 
of  each  seal  as  "a  disclosure."  It  is  dis- 
closure, however,  in  the  prophetic,  not  the 
historic  sense.  That  which  is  historic  may 
be  read  and  understood ;  that  which  is  prophetic 
lies  before  the  reader  or  the  beholder  as  com- 
prehensible only  "in  part,"  and  capable  of 
full  appi-ehension  only  when  "that  which  is 
perfect  is  come" — the  fulfillment.  Thus  there 
was  a  time  when  all  which  related  to  the 
coming  of  the  Redeemer,  and  "the  beginning 
of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God," 
was  prophetic,  and  when  the  ancient  men  of 
God  studied  earnestly  to  know  "  what,  or  what 
manner  of  time,  the  Spirit  of  Christ  which 
was  in  them  did  signify."  What  was  prophetic, 
dim,  shrouded  in  mystery,  to  them,  is  historic 
to  us.  The  Apocalypse,  as  the  record  of  what 
was  revealed  to  Jolin  as  vision,  lies  before  us 
as  the  ancient  prophecj'  lay  before  the  ancient 
student  of  the  Messianic  promises.  It  is  a 
"disclosure,"  in  the  same  sense  that  those 
Messianic  predictions  were :  prophetic  dis- 
closure, becoming  historic  only  in  the  fulfill- 
ment; and  then,  only,  rightly  understood. 

There  are  two  points  of  doctrine  brought 
to  view  in  this  chapter,  in  a  wonderfully 
emphatic  and  vivid  way;  the  one  relating  to 
the  person  of  our  Lord,  the  other  to  his  re- 
deeming work.  As  to  the  former,  we  find 
him  appearing,  in  this  chapter,  as  "the  Lion 
of  the  tribe  of  Juda,"  as  "the  Root,"  or 
root-Shoot,  "of  David,"  and  as  the  Lamb 
"as  it  had  been  slain."  We  thus  see  him 
in  his  human  manifestation;  his  human 
descent   as    of  the  stock   of  Abraham,  the 


tribe  of  Judah;  his  royal  lineage,  as  of  the 
family  of  David;  and  in  his  relation  to  the 
types  of  the  Old  Dispensation,  as  their  sub- 
stance and  fulfillment.  But  two  remarkable 
facts  appear,  in  this  connection — the  first,  that 
it  is  after  the  summoning  voice  has  in  vain 
sounded  throughout  creation,  and  no  creature 
been  found  worthy  to  "open  the  book  and  to 
loose  the  seven  seals  thereof,"  that  the  Lamb 
appears  and  receives  the  book  from  the  hand 
of  him  that  sits  upon  the  throne.  The  mys- 
terioiis  and  wonderful  Person  who  thus  comes 
forward  in  this  great  office  is,  therefore,  not  a 
creature.  The  second  notable  fact  is  that  to 
the  Lamb  precisely  the  same  worship  is  paid, 
with  identical  ascriptions  of  praise,  as  to  him 
that  sits  upon  the  throne.  Could  there  be  a 
more  striking  and  conclusive  testimony  to 
the  divinity  of  our  Lord? 

The  redeeming  work  of  the  Lamb  is  set 
forth  under  similarly  striking  aspects.  His 
appearance,  in  the  office  that  he  now  fills, 
under  the  figure  of  a  lamb,  is  itself  signifi- 
cant in  a  high  degree.  The  word  [apvLov) 
used  in  the  Greek,  "a  young  lamb,"  makes 
the  representation  all  the  more  remarkable. 
That  which  is  the  very  image  of  innocence, 
harmlessness,  even  helplessness,  is  taken  as 
symbolizing  the  personality  of  him  who  is 
here  revealed  in  an  office  that  no  created 
being,  not  even  any  highest  angel  or  arch- 
angel was  found  "worthy"  to  fill.  We 
must  infer,  hence,  that  the  worthiness  of  him 
who  thus  becomes  the  instrument  of  these 
amazing  revelations  is  grounded  in  the  fact 
of  that  in  him  which  constituted  him  man's 
Redeemer.  He  had  once  said:  "All  power 
is  given  unto  rne^^  in  heaven  and  in  earth — 
to  me,  as  the  slain  and  risen  Redeemer  of 
men.  This  is  now  seen  to  be  infinitely  true. 
In  what  the  redemption  consists,  is  no  less 
clearly  set  forth:  "Hast  redeemed  to  God 
by  thy  blood."  With  these  words  U]n)x\ 
record — this  testimony  given  in  heaven  itself 
— there  ought  not  to  remain  among  men  any 
doubt  as  to  the  reality,  or  as  to  the  nature  of 
the  Atonement  made  for  human  sin  by  him 
who  was  made  "sin  [a  sin-offering']  for  us," 
though  he  "knew  no  sin,  that  we  might 
be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him." 

(2  Cor.  5:  2l). 


Ch.  VI.] 


REVELATION. 


93 


CHAPTEK   VI. 

ND  "I  saw  when  the  Lamb  opened  one  of  the  seals,  |    1     And  I  saw  when  the  Lamb  opened  one  of  the  seven 


and  I  heard,  as  it  were  the  noise  of  thunder,  'one 
of  the  four  beasts  saying,  Come  and  see. 


seals,  and  I  heard  one  of  the  four  living  creatures 


1  ch.  5:  5,  6,7 6  ch.  4:  7. 


OPENING  OF  THE  SEALS. 

1-8.  The  First  Four  Seals. 

1,  And  I  saw  when  the  Lamb  opened 
one  of  the  seals.  The  Sin^itic  and  Alex- 
andrine manuscripts  read,  "one  of  the  seven 
seals,"  and  this  reading,  the  revision,  as  will 
be  seen,  adopts.  The  sense  is  the  same,  in 
either  case. — And  I  heard,  as  it  were  the 
noise  of  thunder,  one  of  the  four  beasts 
saying.  ^^  Voice  {<i>o>vi)  of  thunder"  would 
be  more  exact.  A  ditierent  arrangement  of 
the  clauses,  also,  makes  the  sense  more  clear 
— "And  I  heard  one  of  the  four  living  crea- 
tures speaking  as  with  a  voice  of  thunder."  — 
Come  and  see.  Here,  again,  is  a  question 
of  reading,  in  the  Greek.  The  Alexandrine 
manuscript — one  of  the  oldest  and  best — has 
simply,  "Come"  {epxov);  the  Sinaitic,  "Come 
and  see"  {epxov  koI  ISe);  the  manuscript  fol- 
lowed by  King  James'  translators,  "Come 
and  behold,"  or,  "and  look"  {epxov  Ka\  p^^dne). 
The  point  is  not  without  importance,  since 
upon  it  depends  very  much  the  interpretation 
to  be  given  to  the  words  as  they  stand.  The 
English  and  American  revisers  translate, 
as  will  be  noticed,  with  simply  the  word, 
"Come";  with  the  remark  in  the  margin, 
"Some  ancient  authorities  add,  and  see." 
Stuart,  following  Hahn,  translates,  "Come;" 
Hengstenberg,  "Come  and  see,"  as  the  ut- 
terance of  the  first  living  cr.'ature,  "Come" 
as  that  of  each  of  the  remaining  three ;  Diis- 
terdieck,  "Come";  Alford  and  Ellicott's 
Commentary,  "Come."  All  depends  upon 
the  question  which  of  the  ancient  readings 
shall  be  regarded  as  most  authoritative — a 
question  which  can  hardly  be  decided  with 
positiveness;  as  whatever  answer  is  given 
must  be  so  much  a  matter  of  opinion. 

If  the  translation,  "  Come  and  see,"  be  pre- 
ferred, then  the  words  must  be  understood  as 
addressed  to  John,  although  their  meaning 
should  not  be  pressed  too  literally.  "We  can- 
not suppose  him  summoned  to  draw  near  in 
such  a  way  as  to  look  upon  the  roll,  to  find 
thereon,  in  pictured  form,  the  scenes  de- 
scribed.   Nothing  in  the  description  indicates 


that  the  pages  of  the  roll  were  thus  used, 
while  the  vivid  and  intensely  realistic  tone 
of  the  whole  most  decidedly  imports  that 
John  beholds  the  successive  appearances,  as 
they  follow  each  other  throughout  the  book, 
in  vision,  as  if  in  parts  of  a  vast  drama,  with 
scenery  appropriate.  To  view  the  successive 
scenes  as  sketches,  or  pictures  on  the  roll,  is 
to  belittle  the  whole  representation.  We 
must  take  the  words,  if  we  translate,  "Come 
and  see,"  as  rather  a  summons  to  give  especial 
attention  to  what  is  about  to  occur.  Our  own 
preference,  however,  is  upon  the  whole  for 
the  rendering,  "Come."  The  judginent  of 
the  latest  revisers  of  the  New  Testament,  in 
their  treatment  of  the  passage,  has  great 
weight  with  us;  while  it  seems  more  likely 
that  copyists  should  have  interpolated  the 
words,  under  the  impression  that  the  sense  is 
defective  without  them,  than  that,  if  origi- 
nally written,  they  should  have  been  dropped. 
But,  in  that  case,  how  shall  we  understand 
this  summoning  word,  "Come"?  The  de- 
scriptive clause  in  the  connection,  "as  it  were 
the  noise  of  thunder,"  suggests  that  there 
must  be  more  in  it  than  simply  an  address  to 
the  one  man  who  is  beholding.  Such  a  voice 
of  thunder — so  majestic  and  far-sounding — 
would  appear  to  belong,  rather,  to  the  scene 
about  to  transpire  as  an  essential  feature  of 
it,  and  as  if  intended  to  lend  impressiveness 
to  the  scene  itself.  Alford,  founding  upon 
the  fact  that  in  each  of  the  four  instances  the 
word  is  spoken  by  one  of  the  four  living 
creatures,  representatives  of  the  sentient  cre- 
ation, sees  in  this  fourfold  repetition  of  the 
word,  "the  groaning  and  travailing  together 
of  creation  for  the  manifestation  of  the  sons 
of  God,  expressed  in  each  case  in  a  prayer 
for  Christ's  coming."  Consistently^  with  this, 
he  sees  also  "in  the  things  revealed  when  the 
seals  are  opened,  his  [Christ's]  fourfold  prep- 
aration for  his  coming  on  earth."  There  is 
in  this  conception  so  much  that  is  in  keeping 
with  the  majestic  and  vast  significance  of  the 
vision  as  a  whole,  that  one  may  be  strongly 
inclined,  at  first  view,  to  adopt  it.  But  the 
second  thought  finds  serious  difllculty  in  the 


94 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  VI. 


2  And  I  saw,  and  behold  "a.  white  horse:  'and  he 
that  sat  on  him  had  a  bow;  <^and  a  crown  was  given 
unto  him:  and  he  went  fortli  conquering,  and  to  con- 
quer. 


2  saying  as  with  a  voice  of  thunder,  Comei.  And  I  saw, 
and  behold,  a  white  horse,  and  he  that  sat  thereon 
had  a  bow  ;  and  there  was  given  unto  liim  a  crown: 
and  he  came  forth  conquering,  and  to  conquer. 


aZecb.  6:3;  cb.  19:  11.... i  Pj.  45:  4.  5;  LXX c  Zech.  6: 11;  ch.  14:  14. 1  Some  ancieut  authorities  add,  and  see. 


fact  that  nothing  in  the  vision  itself,  nor  any- 
where in  this  part  of  the  account  given  of  the 
wonders  seen,  implies  a  reference  to  that 
second  coming.  It  seems  to  be  required  that 
we  shall  find  the  intention  and  meaning  of 
this  summoning  word  in  the  connection  where 
it  stands,  rather  than  bring  in  an  interpreta- 
tion from  without,  and  from  very  far  with- 
out, besides.  Hengstenberg  may  have  sug- 
gested the  correct  view  where  he  says,  in 
allusion  to  that  which  follows  the  opening  of 
the  first  seal:  "The  voice  of  thunder  is  a 
suitable  announcement  of  the  God-man  con- 
quei-or."  He  does  not  follow  up  what  he 
here  suggests,  nor  does  he  base  upon  it  his 
own  interpretation  of  the  word,  in  its  signifi- 
cance; for  he  makes  it  to  be  an  address  to 
John  to  "  come  and  see."  But,  after  all,  is  it 
not  the  most  natural  and  consistent  view  to 
regard  the  word  as  an  "announcement"? 
Or,  may  we  not  even  say,  that  the  word, 
"Come,"  is  a  summons,  in  each  case,  to  the 
horse  with  its  rider,  which  at  once  moves 
forth  upon  the  scene  of  the  vision  ?  We  are 
supported  in  this  by  Ellicott's  Commentary 
in  loco.  After  saying  that  the  word  cannot 
be  addressed  to  John,  as  a  call  to  draw  near, 
since  "he  was  near  already,"  Mr.  Boyd 
Carpenter,  author  of^  the  Exposition  of  the 
Apocalypse  in  Ellicott,  says  :  "Are  the  words 
then  addressed,  as  Alford  supposes,  to  Christ? 
It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the  living  crea- 
ture would  thus  cry  to  the  Lamb,  who  was 
opening  the  scroll.  The  simplest  way  of 
answering  the  question  is  to  ask  another: 
Who  did  come  in  obedience  to  the  voice? 
There  is  but  one  answer— the  horseman.  The 
living  beings  cry,  'Come,'  and  their  cry  is 
responded  to  by  the  appearance  of  the  several 
riders." 

2.  And  I  saw,  and  behold  a  white 
horse.  It  is  agreed  among  writers,  appar- 
ently, that  we  may  view  the  passages  in  Zech. 
1:  8-10,  and  6:  1,  as  parallel  with  this,  and 
illustrative.  One  of  the  older  of  the  more 
modern  writers  upon  the  Apocalypse,  James 
Durham,  of  Glasgow,  in  lectures  published  at 
Amsterdam  in  1660,  remarks  that,  "by  a  horse 
and   his    rider,   is    understood    in    Scripture 


amongst  the  prophets  some  dispensation  of 
the  Lord  to  his  church,  brought  about 
mediately  by  the  ministry  of  angels  or  men, 
or  immediately  by  God  himself,"  Divine 
dispensations,  he  says,  are  "compared  to 
horses  and  riders  on  them,  for  these  reasons: 
(1)  to  let  us  see  his  sovereignty  that  hath  all 
these  at  his  command  to  send  for  good  or  ill, 
as  great  kings  have  their  messengers  for  exe- 
cuting their  will;  (2)  to  show  the  speediness, 
swiftness,  and  unresistibleness  of  whatsoever 
dispensation  he  sendeth,  as  the  horse  is  speedy 
and  valiant;  (3)  to  show  the  dependence  of  all 
events  on  his  dominion,  and  his  immediate 
ordering  and  guiding  of  them  as  a  rider  doth 
his  horse ;  and  he  letteth  them  not  run  at  ran- 
dom, or  by  guess,  as  a  horse  without  a  rider  or 
bridle,  but  hath  them  all  well  ordered,  whether 
good  or  bad."  This  may,  perhaps,  be  taken, 
in  the  general,  as  a  just  view  of  the  funda- 
mental significance  of  the  representation  made 
under  the  first  four  seals. — And  he  that  sat 
on  him  had  a  how.  There  is  a  very  general 
agreement  in  viewing  the  white  horse  and  his 
rider  as  representing  the  introduction  of  the 
Gospel  Dispensation.  Alford  suggests  the 
appropriate  caution,  that  we  "must  not  too 
hastily  introduce  the  person  of  the  Lord  him- 
self" The  rider  here  is  not,  so  this  writer 
thinks,  and  it  seems  to  us  rightly,  to  be  identi- 
fied with  the  rider  in  ch.  19  :  11,  et  seq.,  who  is, 
undoubtedly,  the  Lord  Jesus,  attended  by  the 
heavenly  hosts.  Here,  the  rider  is,  more  cor- 
rectly viewed,  "a  symbol  of  his  [Christ's] 
victorious  power,  the  embodiment  of  his  ad- 
vancing kingdom."  The  relation  in  which, 
in  our  own  exposition,  we  place  this  part  of 
the  vision  to  those  which  follow  at  the  opening 
of  the  three  next  seals,  will  appear  further 
on.  The  "bow"  held  in  the  hand  of  the 
rider,  may  be  illustrated  by  what  we  read  in 
Ps.  45 :  3-5 : 

Gird  thy  sword  on  the  thigh,  0  mighty  One, 

Thy  honor,  and  thy  majesty; 

And  in  thy  majesty  ride  prosperously, 

P"or  the  sake  of  trutli,  and  humble  right, 

And  thy  right  hand  will  teach  thee  fearful  deeds. 

Thine  arrows  are  sharp, 

In  the  hearts  of  the  king's  enemies ; 

People  shall  fall  under  ihec.—ConanPs  Ti-anstalion. 


Ch.  VI.] 


REVELATION. 


95 


3  And  when  he  had  opened  the  second  seal,  "I  heard 
the  second  beast  say,  Come  and  see. 

4  ''And  there  went  out  another  horse  that,  was  red: 
and  puurr  was  given  to  him  tliat  sat  thereon  to  take 
peace  from  the  earth,  and  that  they  should  kill  one 
another:  and  there  was  given  unto  him  a  great  sword. 


3  And  when  he  opened  the  second  seal,  I  heard  the 

4  second  living  creature  saying,  (.ome'.  And  another 
horse  came  forth,  a  red  horse:  and  to  him  that  sat 
thereon  it  was  given  to  take  ^peace  from  the  earth, 
and  that  they  should  slay  one  another:  and  there 
was  given  unto  him  a  great  sword. 


acb.  4:  7.... 5  Zech.6:  2. 1  S  me  ancient  autboriiies  add,  and  see.... 2  Some  ancient  authorities  read,  the  peace  o/  the  earth. 


— And  a  crown  Avas  given  unto  him.    The 

crown  (o-Tet^aKos),  indicates  sovereignty  gained 
by  victory,  or  conquest.  The  white  horse, 
among  the  Romans,  was  a  sign  of  victory  and 
triumph,  and  upon  such,  in  his  triumphal 
entry  of  the  city,  the  victorious  emperor  al- 
ways rode. — And  he  went  forth  conquer- 
ing and  to  conquer.  The  English  and 
American  revisers  follow  the  old  version  in 
translating  "conquering  and  to  conquer." 
The  Sinaitic  manuscript  reads,  "conquering, 
and  he  conquered"  ;  Alford  translates,  "con- 
quering, and  that  he  may  conquer"  ((cal  iva 
vtic^o-r)).  The  general  sense  is  the  same,  in  either 
case.  The  emphatic  clause,  "and  to  conquer," 
or,  "and  he  conquered,"  or,  "in  order  that  he 
may  conquer,"  strengthens  the  representation 
of  one  going  forth  victorious,  as  was  so  emi- 
nentlj'  true  of  the  Gospel  Dispensation  in  its 
opening  period. 

3.  And  when  he  had  opened  the  second 
seal,  I  heard  the  second  beast  say,  Come 
and  see.  And  there  went  out  another 
horse  that  was  red.  We  change  here, 
again,  the  "Come  and  see,"  to  "Come," 
and  give  it  the  same  interpretation  as  before. 
It  simply  announces  the  new  figure  that 
moves  forth  upon  the  scene;  a  loud  thunder- 
tone,  quite  in  keeping  with  the  grandeur  and 
impressiveness  of  the  vision,  and  indicating 
the  changes  of  the-  drama — if  we  may  use 
that  word  in  such  a  connection — as  they 
occur.  Some  writers  call  attention  to  the 
form  of  the  living  creature  named  in  con- 
nection with  the  opening  of  each  seal,  as  in 
their  view  significant  in  its  relation  to  other 
aspects  of  the  vision  in  each  case.  Thus,  the 
first  living  creature,  we  are  told  (4:7),  was 
"like  a  lion."  This  is  regarded  as  notably 
in  keeping  with  what  the  first  seal  discloses 
of  the  victorious  going  forth  of  him  who  is 
"the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Juda."  The 
second  living  creature  was  "like  a  calf,"  or 
young  ox,  the  symbol  of  patience  and  en- 
durance; regarded  as  suitable  to  the  nature 
of  the  vision  under  the  second  seal,  which 
imports    conflict   and    suflTering,  "even     unto 


blood.  So  with  the  third,  "like  a  man," 
and  the  fourth,  "like  a  flying  eagle."  We 
doubt  if  much  can  be  judiciously  made 
of  this,  although  it  does  seem  worthy  of 
mention  how  congruous  and  harmonious 
are  the  several  features  of  the  vision  in  each 
case  as  so  viewed. 

4.  The  significance  of  the  symbol  seen  in 
the  figure  of  the  horse  that  was  red  ap- 
pears in  the  words  that  follow. — And  power 
was  given  to  him  that  sat  thereon  to 
take  peace  from  the  earth.  The  Alexan- 
drine manuscript  reads,  "the  peace  of  the 
earth,"  but  there  seems  no  occasion  for  chang- 
ing the  phraseology  of  our  Common  Ver- 
sion as  it  stands,  save  that  the  word  "power" 
need  not  be  supplied.  We  may  read,  simply, 
"and  it  was  given  him  to  take  peace  from 
the  earth." — And  that  they  should  kill  one 
another  ;  and  there  Avas  given  unto  him 
a  great  sword.  Here  arises,  first  of  all,  the 
question  whether  the  war  evidently  signified 
is  war  in  the  ordinary  sense.  Elliott,  in 
^^Horce  Apocalypticce,"  so  takes  it.  The 
visions  seen  under  these  first  four  seals  he 
regards  as  representing  successive  condi- 
tions of  the  Roman  Empire;  the  first,  that 
pro.sperous  one  which  began  with  the  reign 
of  Nerva,  following  upon  the  death  of 
Domitian,  and  embracing  the  reigns  of 
Nerva,  Trajan,  and  Adrian,  a  period  of 
eighty-four  years,  from  A.  d.  96  to  A.  i).  180; 
a  period  spoken  of  by  Gibbon,  whom  Elliott 
quotes,  as  "that  during  which  the  condition 
of  the  human  race  was  more  happy  and 
prosperous  than  in  any  other  like  period,  in 
the  whole  history  of  the  world."  This  lan- 
guage we  believe  to  be  extravagant,  however 
well  it  may  serve  the  purpose  of  Elliott  in 
his  efl^Drt  to  sustain  his  own  peculiar  theory 
of  interpretation.  The  second  seal,  with  the 
red  horse,  is  regarded  as  representing  the 
period  of  civil  war,  following  the  death  of 
Adrian.  The  other  seals  are  explained  in 
accordance  with  the  same  theory  of  interpre- 
tation. Stuart,  consistently  with  his  funda- 
mental theory  as  to  the  date  of  the  Apoca- 


96 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  VI. 


lypse,  in  the  time  of  Nero,  and  antedating 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  while  he  makes 
the  white  horse  with  his  rider  significant  of 
the  triumphs  of  Christianity  in  its  first  pro- 
mulgation, views  the  remaining  three  seals 
as  denoting  the  destruction  of  the  Jewish 
persecuting  power,  the  ravaging  of  Judea 
by  the  invading  Romans,  the  final  over- 
throw of  Judaism  itself,  and  the  destruction 
of  the  holy  city.  If  there  were  no  other 
diflSculties  here,  the  impossibility  we  have 
found  in  the  adoption  of  Stuart's  date  for  the 
writing  of  the  Apocalypse,  puts  this  inter- 
pretation out  of  the  question.  But  is  not  the 
view  of  Stuart,  as  well  as  that  of  Elliott — 
and  the  latter  especially  so  —  inconsistent 
with  what  must  be  regarded  as  the  general 
meaning  and  scope  of  all  these  visions? 
Surely,  it  cannot  have  been  the  sole  purpose 
of  Apocalyptic  disclosures  so  impressive  and 
wonderful  in  all  the  attending  conditions- 
uniting  in  the  symbolism  employed  such 
magnificant  theojihanies,  with  accompany- 
ing representative  ministries  of  the  universe 
'^earth  and  heaven,  the  redeemed  church 
and  the  sentient  creation, — it  cannot  be  that 
all  this  array  is  marshaled  for  any  less  a 
purpose  than  to  set  forth  in  the  revelation 
given  that  which  concerns,  not  a  part  of  the 
human  race,  nor  the  secular  history,  merely, 
of  even  so  vast  and  potent  a  power  as  the 
Roman  Empire,  but  what  shall  be  worthy 
alike  of  the  scenery  and  the  drama.  Neither 
can  we  believe  that  the  destruction  of  the 
Jewish  State,  though  viewed  as  a  power 
hostile  to  Christianity,  assailing  with  per- 
secution and  outrage  the  kingdom  of  God  in 
its  New  Dispensation,  is  all  that  must  here  be 
intended.  The  Jewish  persecutions  were  not, 
in  themselves  or  in  their  eifect,  such  as  to 
explain  adequately  the  import  of  these  vis- 
ions. What  either  Elliott  or  Stuart  adopts  as 
a  complete  interpretation,  may  be  accepted 
if  taken  as  partial,  and  as  included  tinder- 
what  is  of  far  wider  scope  and  vastly  more 
comprehensive.  For  example,  there  seems 
no  good  reason  why  the  symbolism  of  the 
red  horse  and  his  formidable  rider  should  not 
be  in  a  degree  retrospective.  That  of  the 
white  horse  certainly  is  so,  if,  as  seems 
agreed,  it  be  viewed  as  denoting  the  tri- 
umphant progress  of  the  gospel  during  the 
apostolic  period.  The  vision  in  this  part  of 
it  is  retrospective,  even  if  Stuart's  date,  and 


his  theory  of  interpretation,  be  adopted. 
Why  should  not  that  seen  under  the  second 
seal  be  equally  so?  Then,  alike  the  perse- 
cuting hostility  of  the  Jews  and  the  fearful 
visitations  upon  them  in  the  war  that  "took 
away  their  state  and  nation,"  with  the  un- 
speakable attending  miseries,  and  that  out- 
break of  pagan  hostility,  with  its  own  inter- 
necine strifes,  seen  in  the  conflicts  of  the 
Roman  power  with  the  spiritual  kingdom 
that  had  come  forward  to  dispute  its 
supremacy — both  these  may  be  regarded  as 
included  under  the  general  Apocalyptic  view 
presented  in  the  symbol  of  the  red  horse.  It 
is  said  that  to  his  rider  "it  was  given  to  take 
peace  from  the  earth."  Our  Lord's  words, 
"I  came  not  to  send  peace  on  earth,  but  a 
sword,"  are  here  eminently  applicable.  The 
symVtolism  of  the  rider  upon  the  red  horse 
may  be  taken  as  denoting  the  fulfillment  of 
what  those  weighty  words  import.  We  see 
no  repson  why  the  significance  of  the  s^'mbol 
should  be  limited  to  either  the  Jewish  or  the 
pagan  persecutions  and  wars.  It  compre- 
hends the  whole  idea  of  that  conflict  between 
the  world-power  and  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
among  men,  with  the  destructive  attendant 
wars  amongst  the  nations  themselves,  more  or 
less  involving  that  higher  and  more  moment- 
ous struggle,  or  else  involved  in  it.  Viewing 
this  whole  mighty  struggle  as  taking  place 
under  the  superintending  providence  of  God, 
and  all  its  issues  shaped  in  accordance  with 
his  own  purposes  of  mercy  or  of  judgment, 
we  perceive  in  the  rider  on  the  red  horse 
just  the  symbol  of  a  great  fact,  then  a  pro- 
phecy, now  a  history.  Durham,  the  Scottish 
divine  of  the  seventeenth  century,  from 
whom  we  quote  above,  makes  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  second  seal  relate  to  the  first 
pagan  persecutions  under  Nero  and  Domi- 
tian.  Of  those  of  Nero,  it  should  be  noticed 
that  they  never  extended  beyond  the  city 
of  Rome;  while  those  of  even  Domitian, 
whose  acts  of  beastly  violence  were  more  of 
a  domestic  than  a  general  nature,  and  whose 
recorded  cruelties  toward  the  Christians  are 
not  numerous,  however  mean  and  wicked 
they  may  have  been,  were  hardlj'  such  as  to 
justify  the  application  to  them  of  this  sym- 
bolism as  finding  its  complete  fulfillment  in 
them.  We  prefer  to  take  it  as  denoting,  in 
general,  the  outbreak  of  that  war  between 
the    two    great    forces,    thenceforth    during 


Ch.  VI.] 


KEVELATION. 


97 


5  And  when  he  had  opened  the  third  seal,  "1  heard  [ 
the  third  beast  say,  Come  and  see.     And  I  beheld,  and 
lo '■a  black  horse:   and  he  that  sat  on  him  had  a  pair 
of  balances  in  his  hand. 

6  And  I  lieard  a  voice  in  the  midst  of  the  four  beasts 
say,  A  measure  of  wheat  for  a  penny,  and  three  meas- 
ures of  barley  for  a  penny  ;  and  'see  thou  hurt  not  the 
oil  and  the  wine. 


5  And  when  he  opened  the  third  seal,  I  heard  the 
third  living  creature  saying,  C'oniei.    And  I  saw,  and 

behold,  a  black  horse;  and  he  that  sat  thereon  had  a 

6  balance  in  liis  hand.  And  I  heard  as  it  were  a  voice 
in  the  midst  of  the  four  living  creatures  saying,  A 
-measure  of  wheat  for  a  shilling,  and  three  measures 
of  barley  for  a  shilling;  and  the  oil  and  the  wine 
hurt  thou  not. 


1  ch.  4:  7 b  Zcch.  6:2 c  ch.  9:  4. 1  Snnie  aucieut  authorities  re.id,  and  see 

for  a  shilling — iiiiplriiig  great  }*curcii 


.2  Or,  A  chcenix  (i.  e.,  about  a  quart)  o/ wheat 


many  ages  to  contest  the  dominion  of  this 
world,  and  whose  vicissitudes  are  so  much 
the  subject  of  the  entire  book. 

5.  And  when  he  had  opened  the  third 
seal,  I  heard  the  third  beast  say.  Come 
and  see.  And  I  beheld,  and  lo,  a  black 
horse.  Interpreters,  for  the  most  part,  ap- 
pear to  agree  that  the  third  seal  represents, 
under  its  symbolism,  famine,  as  the  second 
had  denoted  war.  We  may  accept  this  as  in 
general  correct. — And  he  that  sat  on  him 
had  a  pair  of  balances  in  his  hand.  The 
balances  are  supposed  to  denote  that  careful 
economy  in  the  dispensation  and  use  of  the 
necessaries  of  life  which  the  prevalence  of 
famine  makes  necessary. 

6.  And  I  heard  a  voice  in  the  midst  of 
the  four  beasts  say.  The  Sinaitic  and 
Alexandrine  manuscripts  read:  "1  heard  as 
it  were  a  voice."  Accordingly,  the  latest  re- 
vision reads,  at  this  place:  "And  I  heard  as 
it  were  a  voice  in  the  midst  of  the  four  living 
creatures,  saying."  The  uncertainty  implied 
in  "as  it  were"  (is),  Alford  thinks,  and 
rightly,  "must  be  taken  with  the  whole 
clause,  as  applying  to  the  situation,  not  to  its 
being  a  voice,  which  it  was.'^  The  voice 
seemed  to  come  from  the  point  indicated— 
"the  midst  of  the  four  living  creatures"  ; 
but  it  must  have  been  a  real  voice,  and  must 
have  seemed  to  be  such,  since  the  words  were 
so  distinctly  uttered  and  understood.  Shall 
we  take  the  statement  that  the  voice  comes 
"from  the  midst  of  the  four  living  crea- 
tures," as  significant?  These  represent  the 
sentient  creation.  Famine  is  an  affliction 
originating  in  certain  material  conditions, 
and  felt  especially  as  a  physical  calamity. 
By  whom  the  voice  is  uttered  cannot  be  ex- 
plained; only  the  significance  of  its  locality, 
as  just  intimated,  is  to  be  inferred  from  what 
is  said. — A  measure  of  wheat  for  a  penny; 
and  three  measures  of  barley  for  a 
penny,  and  see  thou  hurt  not  the  oil  and 
the  wine.  The  revision,  it  will  be  noticed, 
makes    this    passage   read:     "A   measure  of 


wheat  for  a  shilling,  and  three  measures  Of 
barley  for  a  shilling;  and  the  oil  and  the  wine 
hurt  thou  not."  The  "denarius,"  or  penny, 
I  among  the  Eomans,  was  worth  about  eight 
pence  half-penny  in  English  coin,  or  from 
fourteen  to  eighteen  cents  in  our  own.  It  is 
said  to  have  been  the  amount  of  a  soldier's 
daily  pay,  in  the  time  of  Tiberius;  also  that 
of  a  day-laborer.  The  "choenix,"  trans- 
lated "measure,"  is  said  by  Stuart,  to  have 
been  nearly  equal  to  our  English  quart.  He 
shows,  too,  by  reference  to  various  classical 
writers,  that  this  measure  "was  the  ordinary 
daily  allowance  for  the  sustenance  of  a  man." 
The  usual  price  of  a  chcenix  of  wheat  was 
one-eighth  of  a  "penny,"  or  denarius.  Of 
course,  the  price  named  in  the  text,  being 
eight  times  this,  indicates  great  scarcity,  and 
may  have  implied,  besides,  that  the  wages  of 
a  day-laborer  would,  in  the  deficiency  of 
food  supposed,  barely  procure  his  own  per- 
sonal sustenance,  leaving  nothing  for  the 
support  of  his  family,  if  he  had  one.  He 
would,  therefore,  be  driven  to  the  much 
inferior  food  supplied  by  the  cheaper  grain, 
barley,  which  however  could,  itself,  be  bought 
only  at  the  large  price  of  three  measures  for 
a  "penny,"  or  denarius.  The  symbolism, 
accordingly,  is  not  that  of  actual  destitution; 
but  of  great  scarcity,  making  the  necessaries 
of  life  exorbitantly  dear,  so  that  the  barest 
subsistence  would  be  difficult  and  precarious. 
The  concluding  words  of  the  verse  seem  to 
imply,  that  the  scarcity  described  should  not 
affect  the  oil  and  the  wine.  These,  if  abund- 
ant in  a  time  when  the  common  articles  of 
food  were  scarce,  would  greatly  relieve  the 
stress  of  the  famine ;  olive  oil  being  very  nu- 
tritious, and  the  simple  wine  of  the  country- 
adapted  also  to  aflord  relief  in  the  stress  of 
hunger,  and  the  consequent  sulfering.  They 
could  also  be  preserved  for  almost  any  length 
of  time,  and  so  might,  in  the  symbol,  repre- 
sent provision  against  destitution,  calamity, 
and  suffering. 
So  far  the  exposition  is,  perhaps,  not  diffi- 


98' 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  VI. 


cult.  "When  we  come,  however,  to  search  for 
the  Apocalyptic  significance  of  the  symbols 
employed,  the  clue  is  hard  to  find.  Some 
writers  upon  the  passage  seem  to  drop  the 
symbolism,  almost  entirely,  and  to  take  the 
representation  as  that  of  actual  and  literal 
famine;  differing  chiefly  as  to  the  questions 
when  and  where ;  Stuart,  making  the  allusion 
to  be  to  the  destitution  and  distress,  amount- 
ing in  the  end  to  absolute  starvation,  suffered 
by  the  Jews  under  the  Roman  invasion,  and 
especially  in  the  taking  of  Jerusalem;  Alford 
understanding  the  passage  as  a  prediction  that 
"famine,  the  pressure  of  want  on  men.  .  .  . 
will  be  one  of  the  four  judgments  by  which 
the  way  of  the  Lord's  coming  will  be  opened"  ; 
while  Elliott  views  the  prediction  as  foretell- 
ing the  scarcity  and  distress  visited  upon 
various  parts  of  the  empire,  as  results  of 
almost  constant  wars.  Some  suppose  a  refer- 
ence to  specific  seasons  of  such  scarcity  as 
that  in  the  time  of  Claudius,  or  that  under 
the  reign  of  Septimius  Severus.  Others, 
taking  the  symbols  in  their  proper  character 
as  such,  interpret  them  variously.  Thus  Cor- 
nelius a  Lapide  supposes  them  to  refer  to  the 
prevalence  of  heresy,  especially  Arianism ; 
Vitringa  to  scarcity  of  spiritual  provision,  as 
from  the  time  of  Constantine  till  the  ninth 
century.  Beda  imagines  the  black  horse  as 
denoting  "the  crowd  of  false  brethren,  who 
hold  the  balance  of  a  right  profession,  but 
cause  grief  by  their  practice  of  the  works  of 
dtirkness."  Durham  says:  "This  type  hold- 
eth  forth  a  hard  condition  the  church  should 
be  under,  and  a  sad  dispensation  she  should 
meet  with,  which,  though  moderated  in  a  more 
orderly  way  than  the  former,  yet  should  ex- 
ceedingly mar  the  beauty  of  the  church,  and 
bring  her  low,  so  that  she  who  before  was 
white  and  lively,  afterward  red  and  wounded, 
should  now  (as  it  were),  drawing  near  expir- 
ing, fainting  and  swooning,  as  one  who  hath 
shed  blood,  turn  black  and  pale;  which,  in 
general,  holdeth  forth  a  growing  strait  of  the 
church,  drawing  nearer  unto  death  than  the 
former." 

"In  the  multitude  of  counselors  there  is"  — 
in  this  case,  perplexity.  Possibly  a  clue  to 
the  difficulty  may  be  found  in  what  we  have 
already  named  as  apparently  indicated  by 
the  symbols  of  the  white  horse  and  the  red 
horse.  In  the  former,  with  his  victorious 
rider,  we  have  seen  the  gospel  triujuphs  at- 


tending the  opening  of  the  dispensation,  when, 
with  such  extraordinary  rapidity  "the  word 
of  God  grew  and  luultiplied,"  to  the  utmost 
borders  of  the  Roman  Empire.  In  the  latter, 
appears  the  fulfillment  of  that  prophetic  say- 
ing of  the  Lord,  "I  came  not  to  send  peace, 
but  a  sword";  seen  in  especially  the  opening 
stages  of  the  long  conflict  between  the  king- 
dom of  light  and  the  kingdom  of  darkness. 
Consistently  with  this,  ought  we  not  to  view 
what  appears  under  the  third  seal  as  exhibit- 
ing, in  a  like  general  way,  some  other  aspect 
of  the  same  kingdom  of  God  in  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  its  long  career?  If  we  take  the 
Christian  history  in  general,  we  observe  (1)  as 
already  pointed  out,  a  period  of  extraordinary 
triumph ;  (2),  the  breaking  out  of  that  spirit 
of  violent  hostility,  in  which  the  great  con- 
flict of  error  with  truth,  unrighteousness  with 
righteousness,  the  kingdom  of  Satan  with  the 
kingdom  of  God,  began  to  assume  the  form 
of  systematic  endeavor  to  "wear  out  the  saints 
of  the  Most  High";  (3)  following  this  within 
the  church  itself  the  first  appearances  of  an  evil 
which  was  more  or  less  to  characterize  its  sub- 
sequent history — perversion  of  the  truth  of 
God,  in  forms  of  pernicious  false  teaching, 
with  denial  to  Christian  people  of  the  privi- 
lege of  access  to  the  word  of  God,  and  so  to 
the  sources  and  means  of  Christian  knowledge. 
In  Apocalyptic  visions  setting  forth  in  ex- 
pressive symbol  the  future  of  that  kingdom 
of  God  whose  opening  era  was  so  glorious,  it 
is  impossible  that  a  fact  so  signal  and  so 
momentous  as  this  last  should  fail  of  due  rep- 
resentation. And  the  symbols  employed  we 
should  expect  to  find  in  keeping  with  those 
used  to  set  forth  other  phases  of  the  long 
and  troubled  history.  Now /amine  is  the  fre- 
quent, more  or  less  the  inevitable,  consequent 
of  war.  Men  are  withdrawn  from  the  need- 
ful duty  of  cultivating  the  earth,  and  are  set 
to  killing  one  another.  Means  of  subsistence 
are  consumed  by  armies,  destroyed  by  invad- 
ing forces,  or  otherwise  turned  from  their 
proper  use,  or  wastefully  ravaged.  Where 
wars  are  long  continued,  general  distress  fol- 
lows as  a  result  necessary  and  inevitable.  It 
is  readily  seen,  then,  how  appropriatelj^  in 
these  successive  visions  the  red  horse  and  his 
rider,  as  the  symbol  of  war,  is  followed  by 
the  black  horse  and  his  ominous  rider,  as  the 
symbol  of  famine.  But  we  have  declined  to 
see  in  the  former  literal  war,  whether  specific 


Ch.  VI.] 


REVELATION". 


99 


7  And  when  he  had  opened  the  fourth  seal,  "I  heard 
the  voice  of  the  fourth  beast  say,  Come  and  see. 

8  'And  I  looked,  and  behold  a  pale  horse:  and  his 
name  that  sat  on  him  was  Death,  and  Hell  followed 
with  him.  And  power  was  given  unto  them  over  the 
fourth  part  of  the  earth,  =to  kill  with  sword,  and  with 
hunger,  and  with  death,  ^and  with  the  beasts  of  the 
earth. 


7  And  when  he  opened  the  fourth  seal,  I  heard  the 
voice  of  the  fourth  living  creature  saying,  Come.* 

8  And  I  .saw,  and  behold,  a  pale  horse:  and  he  that  sat 
upon  him,  his  name  was  Death  ;  and  Hades  followed 
with  him.  And  there  was  given  unto  them  authority 
over  the  fourth  part  of  the  earth,  to  kill  with  sword, 
and  with  famine,  and  with  2 death,  and  by  the  wild 
beasts  of  the  earth. 


tch.  4:  7 6  Zech  6:  3....C  Ezek.  14:  21.... d  Lev.  26:  22. 1  Some  nncieot  authorities  add,  and  see 2  Or, pettilence. 


wars  or  war  in  general.  Such  as  these  are 
rather  implied  in,  included  under,  that  higher 
and  wider  significance  of  the  vision  which 
makes  this  great  conflict  a  spiritual  one,  in- 
volving those  of  a  more  literal  kind  in  which, 
so  often,  religious  animosities  have  played  a 
great  part.  Must  we  not  view  the  famine  that 
accompanies  or  follows  after  in  a  similar  way? 
Can  we  locate,  or  make  specific  the  famine 
represented  here  ?  Might  not  the  symbolism 
apply  to  any  one  of  the  many  seasons  of 
scarcity  and  distress  mentioned  in  modern 
history  ?  And  to  any  of  them  quite  as  well 
as  to  any  other?  Or,  if  we  group  them  all  in 
one  general  representation,  as  Alford  seems 
to  do,  in  what  sense  can  famine  be  said,  as  in 
his  theory  of  exposition,  to  serve  as  one  of  the 
"preparations"  for  "the  Lord's  coming"? 

Upon  the  whole,  while  it  might  be  rash  to 
name  any  exposition  of  this  verse  as  undoubt- 
edly the  correct  one,  we  incline  to  view  it  as 
setting  forth  under  the  figure  of  material 
scarcity,  indicated  in  its  special  characteristics 
with  extraordinary  vividness  through  the 
special  symbols  employed,  and  under  imagery 
which  was  often  to  be  in  human  experience 
literal  and  historical,  that  momentous  fact  in 
the  spiritual  history  of  mankind  under  even 
the  Gospel  Dispensation — the  prevalence  of 
false  teaching,  apostasy  from  the  truth,  chang- 
ing of  the  very  word  of  God  into  a  lie,  to- 
gether with  denial,  by  usurped  authorities,  to 
Christian  souls  of  the  very  bread  of  life.  Dur- 
ing the  centuries  of  Christian  history,  the  word 
of  God  4ias  never  wholly  failed,  although  the 
spiritual  hunger  of  those  from  whom  the  di- 
vine sustenance  was  thus  withholden  has 
often  been  extreme;  while  in  the  midst  of 
all,  the  oil  and  the  wine  of  God's  supporting 
grace  have  remained  "unhurt."  Perhaps 
this  exposition  ought  to  be  rather  suggested 
than  positively  proposed  and  maintained.  We 
find  it,  for  our  own  part,  more  in  keeping 
with  the  general  Apocalyptic  order  in  con- 
nection with  these  first  four  seals,  and  less 


open  to  objection  than  any  one  of  the  many 
other  interpretations  named. 

7, 8.  And  when  he  had  opened  the  fourth 
seal,  I  heard  the  voice  of  the  fourth 
beast  say,  Come  and  see.  And  I  looked, 
and  behold  a  pale  horse.  Again,  the  sum- 
moning word  is,  "Come."  The  word  (xAojpds) 
translated  "pale,"  may  also  be  rendered 
"livid";  "the  color,"  says  Alford,  "of  the 
corpse  in  incipient  decay,  or  of  the  com- 
plexion extremely  pale  through  disease."  — 
And  his  name  that  sat  on  him  was 
Death,  and  Hell  followed  with  him. 
The  English  and  American  revisers  read: 
"And  he  that  sat  upon  him,  his  name  was 
Death;  and  Hades  followed  with  him."  The 
word  in  the  Greek,  which  the  common  ver- 
sion translates  "hell,"  is  not  the  word  prop 
erly  so  translated,  gehenna,  but  that  which 
denotes  in  general  the  world  of  the  departed. 
Hades. — And  power  was  given  unto  them 
over  the  fourth  part  of  the  earth,  to  kill 
with  sword,  and  with  hunger,  and  with 
death,  and  with  the  beasts  of  the  earth. 
The  preposition  changes  in  the  last  clause, 
and  we  should  read,  "by  the  beasts  (properly 
^wild  beasts^)  of  the  earth."  The  represen- 
tation is  a  most  vivid  one  of  slaughter,  a  de- 
struction of  human  life  by  every  variety  of 
means.  What  seems  to  be  intended  i.s,  dis- 
tinctively, murderous  persecution.  The  men- 
tion of  "the  fourth  part  of  the  earth"  can 
only  be  meant  as  indicating  in  general  how 
numerous  were  to  be  the  victims  of  this  wide- 
wasting  slaughter.  The  specification  of  vari- 
ous instruments  of  destruction  implies  how 
expedients  to  this  end  should  be  exhausted  in 
the  cruel  work  of  persecution.  Thus  is  pre- 
sented the  fourth  great  general  fact  in  early 
Christian  history.  We  have,  as  before,  (1) 
the  opening  triumph,  (2)  the  outburst  of  vio- 
lent hostility,  (3)  the  corruption  of  Christian 
teaching,  and  the  cutting  off  of  spiritual  sus- 
tenance from  hungry  souls,  (4)  persecution, 
'  in    its    distinctive    and    specially   murderous 


100 


KEVELATION, 


[Ch.  VI. 


form.  In  this  worst  form,  too,  it  follows 
historically  upon  the  several  stages  before 
indicated,  and  so  is  appropriately  represented 
under  the  symbol  of  the  fourth  rider.  If  we 
study  this  symbol  with  care,  we  shall  realize 
with  what  vivid  truthfulness  it  sets  forth 
what  might  seem  almost  incredible  as  a  fact 
of  history— the  myriads  of  lives  which  by 
every  manner  of  cruel  death  perished  in  the 
successive  persecutions,  of  which  those  under 
the  Roman  emperors  were  the  example  and 
the  type.  This  was  true  especially  of  the 
later  emperors.  "  It  would  have  been  an  easy 
task,"  says  Gibbon,  "from  the  history  of 
Eusebius,  from  the  declaration  of  Lactantius, 
and  from  the  most  ancient  acts,  to  collect  a 
long  series  of  di.sgustful  pictures,  and  to  fill 
many  pages  with  racks  and  scourges,  with 
iron  hooks  and  red-hot  beds,  and  with  the 
variety  of  tortures  which  fire  and  steel,  sav- 
age beasts,  and  more  savage  executioners, 
could  inflict  on  the  human  body" — and  we 
may  add  that  these  "disgustful  pictures"  are 
far  less  creations  of  the  imagination  or  exag- 
gerations of  fact,  than  Gibbon  in  so  many 
places  hints  or  implies. 

GENERAL   COMMENTS. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  the  first  four 
seals  have  a  distinctive  character,  and  stand 
apart,  for  purposes  of  exposition,  from  the 
three  that  follow.  Their  symbolism,  while 
differing  from  that  of  those  which  come 
after,  is  similar  in  character  in  all  four,  the 
horse  and  rider  appearing  in  each.  There  is 
a  general  connection  among  all  the  seals,  yet 
the  grouping  in  four  and  three  is  clearly 
manifest. 

When  we  come  to  the  opening  of  the  fifth 
and  sixth  seals,  we  shall  find  reasons  for 
certain  limitations  of  the  events  foreshadowed 
in  the  first  four  seals,  to  a  particular  period  of 
time.  And  still,  this  limitation  is  not  abso- 
lute. "While  these  seals  especially  apply  to 
the  period  to  be  indicated  directly,  in  a  wider 
sense  they  cover  tlie  whole  temporal  range  of 
the  progress  of  the  gospel,  and  of  the  conflict 
ushered  in  by  the  rider  on  the  red  horse; 
ending  only  at  the  end  of  all  things.  Thus, 
under  the  first  seal  we  have  the  Gospel  Dis- 
pensation in  its  glorious  opening,  yet  in  this 
opening  stage  its  whole  career  foreshadowed; 
under  the  second,  the  beginning,  the  intro- 
duction  of   that    fulfillment    of    our    Lord's 


warning  prophecy,  which,  indeed,  was  to 
fill  many  centuries  of  time,  yet  here  appear- 
ing rather  as  introduced,  than  as  carried  on 
to  its  consummation;  under  the  third  and 
fourth,  in  like  manner,  beginnings  and  early 
stages  of  development  are  principally  in- 
tended, yet  by  no  means  exclusively.  Ap- 
plications of  the  symbolism  of  these  seals 
may  easily  be  found  along  the  track  of  history 
during  many  centuries  of  time,  and  possibly 
may  continue  so  down  to  the  end.  We  trace, 
however,  a  certain  historical  order  in  the 
visions  as  they  successively  appear,  and  this 
should  not  be  disregarded  in  the  exposition. 
We  may,  it  is  believed,  locate  the  more  im- 
mediate application  of  what  appears  under 
the  first  four  seals,  within  the  period  of  the 
Roman  Empire;  the  fearfully  vivid  symbol- 
ism of  the  fourth  and  last  finding  its  especial 
counterpart  in  the  ferocious  persecutions 
under  Galerius,  Diocletian,  and  Maximin, 
where  we  see  included  with  other  forms  of 
death  inflicted,  that  favorite  one,  "by  the 
beasts  of  the  earth  "—the  bloody  spectacle  of 
the  amphitheatre,  when  ''Ad  leonem!" — "To 
the  lion  !  " — was  a  common  word  of  doom  for 
those  who  could  more  easily  die  than  be  un- 
true. 

We  anticipate  the  difficulty  which  readers 
may  find  in  our  interpretation  of  the  third 
seal.  Perhaps  more  account  should  be  made, 
than  appears  in  our  exposition,  of  the  literal 
and  actual  in  this  striking  picture  of  distressful 
famine.  The  literal  underlies  the  figurative, 
in  all  these  representations;  just  as  we  see  it 
in  history,  the  spiritual  is  in  close  association 
with  the  temporal  and  material;  the  church 
is  in  the  wilderness;  the  kingdom  of  God  is, 
in  its  apparent  fortunes,  more  or  less  involved 
with  the  kingdoms  of  the  world;  destruct- 
ive wars  between  world-powers,  comprehend 
among  their  issues  those  of  the  Avorld-powers 
themselves  with  the  advancing  reign  of  the 
King  of  kings;  while  "distress  of  nations" 
through  famine  and  pestilence  serves  as  typi- 
cal of  that  worse  destitution  and  ravage, 
when  sin  reigns  and  devours  like  a  pestilence, 
and  the  people  i)erish  for  lack  of  knowledge. 
How  much  of  this  higher  spiritual  element 
ought  to  be  traced  in  the  symbols  of  these 
visions,  we  are  not  prepared  to  say;  that  it 
is  therCy  we  are  persuaded.  Ellicott's  Com- 
mentary fully  recognizes  this,  when,  in  speak- 
ing of  war  as  symbolized  by  the  red  horse, 


Ch.  VI.] 


REVELATION. 


101 


9  And  when  he  had  opened  the  fifth  seal,  I  saw 
under  "the  altar  'the  souls  of  theiu  that  were  slain 
•lor  the  word  of  God,  and  tor  •'the  testimony  which 
they  held : 


9  And  when  he  opened  the  fifth  seal,  I  saw  under- 
neath the  altar  the  souls  of  theni  that  had  lieen  slain 
for  the  word  of  God,  aud  for  the  testimony  which  they 


ach.  8:3;  9;  13;  14 :  1S....6  ch.  20:  4....cch.  1:9 <i  2  Tim.  1 :  8:  ch.  12:  IT ;    19-  10. 


and  famine  by  the  black  horse,  following  in 
his  steps,  it  says:  "There  is  a  similar  experi- 
ence in  the  history  of  the  Church.  The  red 
horse  of  controversy  is  followed  by  the  black 
horse  of  spiritual  starvation.  In  the  heat  of 
polemical  pride  and  passion  for  theological 
conquest,  is  developed  that  love  of  barren 
dogmatics  which  forgets  the  milk  of  the  word 
and  the  I  read  of  life,  which  are  the  needed 
food  of  souls." 

The  fact  must  be  kept  in  view  that  those 
which  appear  under  the  imagery  of  the  first 
four  seals,  are  events  occurring  in  the  super- 
intending and  overruling  providence  of  God; 
they  are  "  parts  o{  his  ways"  in  carrying  for- 
ward to  their  consummation  his  purposes  as 
respects  alike  the  church  and  the  world. 
Each  rider  goes  forth  with  his  mission  and 
his  office.  To  him  on  the  red  horse  it  is 
"given"  to  "take  peace  from  the  earth,"  and 
to  him  is  "given"  a  sharp  sv;ord.  A  like  sub- 
ordination of  office  is  implied  for  the  rider 
upon  the  black  horse,  as  the  charge  is  given 
him  to  moderate  the  stress  of  the  destitution 
he  inflicts,  and  to  leave  still  available  for  those 
who  suffer  it,  the  oil  and  the  wine  of  divine 
consolation.  To  the  rider  on  the  pale  horse, 
and  to  his  terrible  attendants  there  was  "given 
power  over  the  ftmrth  part  of  the  earth  to 
kill"  and  destroy.  These  things  took  place, 
no{  as  a  revolt,  for  the  time  irresistible,  against 
the  sovereignty  of  him  thatsatupon  thethrone, 
and  of  the  Lamb,  but  as  so  permitted  and  used 
as  to  become  divine  dispensations,  carrying  on 
to  fulfillment  great  purposes  of  grace  and  of 
power. 

9-11.   The  Fifth  Seal. 

9.  The  Souls  Uni>er  the  Altar. — And 
when  he  had  opened  the  fifth  seal.  The 
first  four  seals,  we  have  seen,  are  closely  re- 
lated in  character  and  significance.  The  re- 
maining three  are,  in  the  form  of  the  repre- 
sentation under  each,  distinct  not  only  from 
the  four  preceding  ones,  but  also  from  each 
other.  There  is,  however,  as  will  appear,  a 
general  connection  among  all  the  seven,  with 
a  corresponding  resultant  unity  of  general  in- 
tention.— I  saw  under  the  altar  the  souls 


of  them  that  were  slain  for  the  word  of 
God,  and  for  the  testimony  which  they 
held.  It  is  important  that  the  Hymholieal 
character  of  the  whole  representation,  here,- 
be  kept  clearly  in  mind.  This  symbolism 
must  be  forgotten  or  overlooked  by  those  who 
find  a  difficulty  in  the  description  of  these 
souls  of  the  martyrs — their  deptirted  spirits — . 
as,  instead  of  being  in  heaven  and  in  glory 
with  their  Lord,  lying  under  the  altar, 
and,  as  if  still  in  suffering,  calling  for  vindi- 
cation, and  for  the  punishment  of  their  mur- 
derers. It  is  not  at  all  the  purpose  of  the 
vision  to  represent  this  as  the  ac^^a^  condition 
of  the  martyred  dead,  any  more  than  it  is  to 
represent  God  as  actually  seated  upon  the 
throne  as  here  seen,  or  as  surrounded  by  the 
encircling  elders  with  all  the  other  groupings 
of  the  theophany.  It  is  all  vision,  not  reality, 
and  vision  intended  to  set  forth  ideas,  ]}rin- 
ciples,  and  general  facts  of  divine  dispensa- 
tion, rather  than  specific  and  literal  events. 
The  leading  general  fact  of  this  kind,  pre- 
sented under  the  fifth  seal,  is  that  of  God's 
apparent  delay  in  vindicating  the  truth  of  his 
own  word,  and  requiting  the  cruelties  visited 
upon  his  people  by  their  enemies  and  his. 
With  a  view  to  set  forth  this  general  idea,  or 
fact,  a  vision  is  presented  of  spirits  of  the  mar- 
tyred dead,  who  serve  to  this  end  an  office  like 
that  which  is  filled  by  the  characters  of  a 
drama.  It  should  be  remembered,  in  further 
exposition  of  the  vision,  that  John  is  still 
standing  by  the  sea  of  glass,  and  what  has 
been  described  in  chs.  iv.,  v.,  is  still  before 
him.  A  new  object,  however,  now  appears — 
an  altar.  It  is  the  altar  {ev<Ti.a.arTnpiofv)  of  sacri- 
fice, of  burnt-offerings,  and  we  have  in  the 
connection  again  the  word  translated,  "that 
were  slain"  {{<T<i,ayiJ.ivo>v),  which  means  slain  in 
sacrifice.  This  word  is  used  of  the  "  Lamb  as 
it  had  been  slain,"  and  as  applied  here  to  the 
martyrs  indicates  that  they  had,  indeed,  drank 
of  his  cup,  and  been  baptized  witli  his  bap- 
tism. They  had  experienced  "the  fellowship 
of  his  sufferings."  "  Under  the  altar,"  must 
mean  at  the  foot  of  the  altar;  as  was  the  case 
in  ancient  temple  sacrifice,  when  the  bodies. 


102 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  VI. 


10  And  thev  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  "How 
long,  ()  Lord, "'' holy  and  true,  "dost  thou  not  judge  and 
avenge  our  blood  on  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  ? 

11  And  ''white  robes  were  given  unto  every  one  of 
them;  and  it  was  said  unto  them,  "that  they  should 
rest  yet  lor  a  little  season,  until  their  fellow-servants 
also  and  their  brethren,  that  should  be  killed  as  they 
were,  should  be  fulfilled. 


10  held :  and  they  cried  with  a  great  voice,  saying,  How 
long,  O  Master,  the  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not 
judge  and  avenge  our  blood  on  them  that  dwell  on 

11  the  earth?  And  there  was  given  tliem  to  each  one  a 
white  robe;   and    it  was  said  unto  them,  that  they 

should  rest  yet  for  a  little  time,  until  their  fellow- 
servants  also  and  Iheir  brethren,  who  should  be 
killed  even  as  they  were,  should  have  fulfilled  their 
course. 


oSeeZech.  l:12....5ch.3:7....coh.  11:18;  19:2 dch.  3:  4.5:  7:9.  14....e  Heb.  11:  40;  ch.  14 :  13.- 

auihoi'ities  read,  be  /ulfilled  iu  uumber. 


-1  Some  ancient 


of  the  victims  offered  lay  near  and  around  the 
altar  upon  which  they  had  been  sacrificed. 
These  martyrs  had  been  slain  "  for  the  word 
of  God,  and  for  the  te.stimony  which  they 
held" — that  is,  on  account  of  (Sia)  the  word 
of  God  to  which,  in  their  testimony,  they  had 
been  faithful  unto  death. 

10.  And  they  cried  with  a  loud  [a 
"gi-eaf]  voice.  As  indicated  above,  it  is 
not  to  be  inferred  that  the  spirits  of  the  mar- 
tyrs in  their  glorified  and  heavenly  state  do 
actually  thus  invoke  divine  judgment  upon 
their  oppressors.  Those  seen  in  the  vision 
are  representative  forms,  simply,  and  are  used 
to  set  forth  in  a  dramatic  way,  consi.stent 
with  the  method  of  the  whole  book,  the  idea 
of  that  divine  judgment  upon  oppressors  and 
murderers  which  in  the  divine  providence 
seems  often  so  strangely  delayed. —How  long, 
O  Lord,  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not 
jud£;e  and  avenge  our  blood  on  them 
that  dwell  on  the  earth?  The  word  trans- 
lated "Lord,"  "Master"  (SecrTroTTjs),  correlates 
with  "servant"  (SoOAov).  The  revisers  accord- 
ingly translate  more  correctly,  "  How  long, 
O  Master"  ;  the  appeal  being  by  those  who 
have  faithfully  served  and  suffered,  to  him  in 
whose  service  and  cause  they  have  done  and 
endured  all.  "Dost  thou  not  judge,"  implies 
an  appeal  to  the  divine  justice.  And  this 
makes  more  clear  the  word  "avenge,"  which 
does  not  mean  vengeance  in  any  vindictive 
sense,  but  in  the  sense  of  that  deserved  re- 
quital with  which  justice  visits  the  wicked 
and  the  cruel. 

11.  And  white  robes  were  given  unto 
every  one  of  them.  More  correctly  tran.s- 
lated,  ''Anil  there  was  given  to  each  one  a 
white  robe."  Again  to  be  taken  in  the  strictly 
symbolical  sense.  The  "white  robes"  in- 
dicate divine  recognition  and  vindication, 
against  every  manner  of  accusation  and  con- 
tumely endured  by  them  in  their  earthly  life. 
"We  are  not  to  infer  that  those  wlio  are  faith- 
ful unto  death  are  not  at  once  tiius  "clothed 


upon";  but  in  the  dramatic  action  of  this 
vision,  the  spirits  of  the  martjTs  representa- 
tively appear  as  in  this  way  acknowledged 
and  rewarded  in  the  presence  of  the  behold- 
ing universe.  The  general  fact  thus  pre- 
sented is  that  God  does  not  forget  his  faithful 
ones,  nor  is  he  indifferent  to  all  they  have 
done  and  endured,  however  his  judgments 
upon  their  oppressors  and  murderers  may 
seem  to  linger.  We  may  note  here  that  an 
aflSrmative  answer  to  the  question  is  distinctly 
implied  by  the  Greek  negative  used,  "not" 
(oir) — "dost  thou  7iot"  ? — And  it  was  said 
unto  them,  that  they  should  rest  yet  for 
a  little  season.  Alford  objects  to  the  ex- 
position, "ab.stain  trom  their  cry  for  venge- 
ance, be  quiet,"  which  De  Wette  and  others 
prefer.  He  thinks  we  should  understand 
"rest  in  blessedness."  But  in  that  case,  how 
shall  we  explain  the  phrase,  "a  little  season" 
— a  little  time — as  also  the  word  "until"? 
Will  they  rest  in  blessedness  only  "a  little 
while"?  The  force  of  the  word  "rest," 
which  means  also  to  "cease,"  "rest  in  quiet," 
bears  evidently  upon  what  has  preceded  in 
describing  the  appeal  for  justice  of  these  souls 
of  the  martyrs.  What  is  said  to  them  is,  in 
effect,  that  in  "a  little  season"  tjieir  prayer 
shall  be  granted;  till  thep,  let  them  rest  and 
wait.  The  general  thought  is  the  same  as 
that  in  the  Lord's  parable,  "Shall  not  God 
avenge  his  own  elect  .  .  .  though  he  bear 
long  with  them?  I  tell  .you  that  he  will 
avenge  them  speedily.'^  God's  "little  while" 
may  not  seem  such  to  us.  It  may  compre- 
hend centuries.  Yet,  what  are  centuries  to 
his  eternity  ?— Until  their  fellow-servants 
also  and  their  brethren,  that  should  be 
killed  as  they  Avere,  should  be  fnlKlled. 
The  language  evidently  im))iies  tliat  tlicse 
souls  under  tlu^  altar  represent  only  a  portion 
of  those  who  in  successive  ages  suffer  death 
as  witnesses  for  God  and  his  truth.  Otliers 
are  3'et  to  "be  killed  as  they  were,"  and 
meanwhile,  that   final  judgment  of  God   in 


Ch.  VI.] 


REVELATION. 


103 


12  And  I  beheld  when  he  had  opened  the  sixth  seal, 
"and,  lo,  there  was  a  great  earthquake;  and  '■the  sun 
became  bhiek  as  sackcloth  of  hair,  and  the  moon  be- 
came as  blood ; 


12  And  I  saw  when  he  opened  the  sixth  seal,  and 
there  was  a  great  earthquake;  and  the  sun  became 
black  as  sackcloth  of  hair,  and  the  whole  moou  be- 


tch.  16:  18....&  Joel2:  10.  31  :  3:  15;  Matt.  24:  29;  Acts  2 :  20. 


which  alike  the  truth  and  its  witnesses  will 
have  triumphant  vindication,  is  delayed. 

GENERAL   COMMENTS. 

It  is  important  that  we  should  emphasize 
here  the  significant  teaching  of  the  words 
noticed  in  the  conclusion  of  our  exposition, 
above.  We  understand  by  these  souls  under 
the  altar — these  spirits  of  martyrs^represen- 
tatives  of  those  who  had- given  their  lives  in 
testimony  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  within 
a  certain  period.  It  is  clear  that  others  were 
to  suffer  after  them.  We  know  of  no  war- 
rant for  claiming  that  these  who  "should  be 
killed  as  they  were,"  are  victims  of  some 
outbreak  of  long  extinct  persecution  just  pre- 
ceding the  coming  of  the  Lord.  To  thus 
interpret  is  to  find  in  the  passage  what  the 
writer  of  it  cannot  have  intended  to  put  there. 
The  natural  meaning  of  it  is  that  these  souls 
under  the  altar,  are,  representatively,  spirits 
of  those  who  had  suffered  in  connection  with 
what  had  just  previously  been  indicated  at 
the  opening  of  the  second,  third,  and  fourth 
seals;  and  especially  the  last.  Thus  while 
the  vision  changes  its  special  character  as  the 
fifth  seal  is  ojiened,  the  general  connection  of 
the  whole  is  maintained.  We  therefore  con- 
sider ourselves  justified  in  viewing  these  souls 
under  the  altar,  while  implying  a  general 
allusion  to  victims  of  persecution  in  all  ages, 
as  representative  especially  of  such  as  had 
perished  under pn gnu  persecutions;  and  that  j 
these  "fellow-.servants"  and  "brethren"  who  i 
were  yet  to  be  killed,  were  such  as  should  in  ' 
like  manner  suffer  at  the  yet  bloodier  hand 
of  the  Man  of  Sin,  "in  his  time"  to  be  "re- 
vealed." 

12-17.  The  Sixth  Seal,  and  the  Great 
Earthquake. 

12.  And  I  beheld,  when  he  had  opened 
the  sixth  seal,  and,  lo,  there  was  a  great 
earthquake;  and  the  sun  became  black 
as  sackcloth  of  hair,  and  the  moon  be- 
came as  blood.  The  revision  omits  "lo," 
following  the  Sinaitic  manuscript,  and  reads 
"the  whole  moon,"  in  accordance  with  the 
Sinaitic  and  Alexandrine.      It  is  quite  cus- 


tomary with  interpreters  to  treat  this,  with 
the  verses  following  to  the  end  of  the  chapter, 
as  a  description  of  the  end  of  the  world. 
We  decline  to  take  this  view,  for  these 
reasons:  (1)  That  it  so  much  overlooks  the 
fact  that  what  appears  here,  as  elsewhere  in 
the  book,  is  visioji,  and  vision  in  which  the 
objects  and  incidents  presented  are  not  actual 
and  literal,  but  images  and  symbols.  Those 
who  interpret  the  passage  as  descriptive  of 
what  is  actually  to  occur  at  the  end  of  all 
things,  drop  this  .symbolical  element  almo.st 
altogether,  and  read  the  whole  as  if  it  were 
literal  history.  (2)  It  is  making  the  whole 
Apocalyptic  scheme  a  scene  of  confusion  to 
introduce  at  this  point,  and  at  so  many  sub- 
sequent ones,  the  end  of  the  world  and  the 
last  judgment.  Lange  would  have  it  that 
the  order  of  representation  in  the  book  is 
cyclical;  the  same  .scene  re-appearing  under 
different  aspects,  and  ending  always  in  the 
final  universal  cataclysm.  It  seems  to  be 
taken  for  granted,  in  a  hasty  and  unauthor- 
ized way,  that,  where  the  description  is  of  a 
nature  to  suggest  that  ultimate  event  in 
human  history,  it  is,  of  course,  to  be  taken 
as  having  that  meaning.  (8)  The  language, 
here,  is  precisely  in  keeping  with  what  we 
find  in  Old  Testament  prophecy,  as  predictive 
of  national  events,  great  and  startling  changes 
in  the  political  world.  We  may  take,  as  an 
example,  Joel  2:  10,  where  invasion  of  the 
land  of  Judah  is  threatened:  "The  earth 
shall  quake  before  them;  the  heavens 
shall  tremble,  the  sun  and  the  moon  shall  be 
dark,  and  the  stars  shall  withdraw  their  shin- 
ing." Or  Jer.  4:  23,  24,  28:  "I  beheld  the 
earth,  and,  lo,  it  was  without  form,  and  void; 
and  the  heavens,  and  they  had  no  light.  I 
beheld  the  mountains,  and,  lo,  they  trembled, 
and  all  the  hills  moved  lightly.  For  this 
.shall  the  earth  mourn,  and  the  heavens  above 
be  black."  More  to  the  point  of  our  present 
passage  is  "the  burden  of  Babylon,"  in  Isa. 
13:  9,  10:  "Behold,  the  day  of  the  Lord 
cometh,  cruel  both  with  wrath  and  with  fierce 
anger,  to  lay  the  land  desolate ;  and  he  shall 
destroy  the  sinners  thereof  out  of  it.     Foe 


104 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  VI. 


13  "And  the  stars  of  heaven  fell  unto  the  earth,  even 
ae  a  fig  tree  tasteth  her  untimely  tigs,  when  she  is 
shaken  of  a  uiinhtv  wind. 

14  'And  tlie  hea'ven  departed  as  a  scroll  when  it  is 
rolled  together;  and  <^ every  mountain  and  island  were 
moved  out  of  their  places. 

15  And  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  the  great  men, 
and  the  rich  men,  and  the  chief  captains,  and  the 
mighty  men,  and  every  bond  man,  and  every  free 
man,  "^hid  themselves  in  the  dens  and  in  the  rocks  of 
the  mountains; 


13  came  as  blood ;  and  the  stars  of  the  heaven  fell  into 
the  earth,  as  a  fig  tree  casteth  her  unripe  figs,  when 

14  she  is  shaken  of  a  great  wind.  And  the  heaven  was 
removed  as  a  scroll  when  it  is  rolled  up;  and  every 
mountain  and  island  were  moved  out  oi  their  places. 

15  And  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  the  princes,  and  the 
'chief  captains,  and  the  rich,  and  the  strong,  and 
every  bondman  and  freeman,  hid  themselves  in  the 


acb.  8:  10;  9:1. 


-1  Or,  military 


the  stars  of  heaven  and  the  constellations 
thereof  shall  not  give  their  light,  the  sun 
shall  be  darkened  in  his  going  forth,  and  the 
moon  shall  not  cause  her  light  to  shine."  No 
ome,  sureh',  will  understand  by  these  passages 
in  Old  Testament  prophecy,  more  than  pre- 
dictions, under  this  vivid  imagery,  of  events 
whose  record  is  now  in  history,  and  whose 
tremendous  catastrophes  fully  justify  a  repre- 
sentation which  makes  them  to  be  as  (/"nature 
itself  were  plunging  into  the  original  chaos. 
(4)  The  common  interpretation,  here,  is  open 
to  the  same  objection  as  lies  against  so  much 
of  the  labored  and  involved  expositions  of 
this  book.  It  assumes  an  amount  of  elabora- 
tion and  complication  in  the  Apocalyptic 
scheme  itself  which  is  neither  necessary  to 
it,  nor  likely  to  be  in  it.  Why  should  we 
suppose  that  at  this  point,  while  so  much 
remains  to  be  unfolded  of  the  contents  of 
the  sealed  book,  we  are  thus  suddenly  and 
unexpectedly  brought  to  the  consummation 
of  all  things — to  return,  at  the  opening  of 
the  next  chapter,  to  the  beginning  of  the 
Gospel  Dispensation  once  more,  and  be 
brought  again  to  the  end  of  all  things  in 
the  tenth  and  eleventh  chapters;  returning 
again  to  the  point  of  departure  with  the 
opening  of  the  twelfth  ?  There  is  a  far  more 
natural  and  simple  method  of  procedure  in 
the  interpretation,  which  may  afford  less 
opportunity  for  elaborate  and  ingenious 
theorizing,  yet  is  much  more  likely  to  be 
according  to  the  real  meaning  of  the  book. 
We  prefer,  for  these  reasons,  to  take  the 
descriptive  imagery  of  the  passage  now  under 
consideration,  as  in  analogy  with  those  above 
quoted  from  the  Old  Testament.  At  the 
opening  of  the  sixth  seal  the  scene  changes. 
John  sees  before  him — in  vision — what  seems 
like  a  grand  cataclysm  of  all  things.  Those 
terrific  phenomena  of  nature  which  most  op- 
press human  beings  with  consternation  and 
dread,   seem    to    pass    before   his  eyes,    with 


others,  unexampled  and  amazing,  while  fear 
seizes  upon  all  the  beholders,  who  see  in  these 
terror-striking  portents  signs  of  divine  wrath 
and  judgment.  Doubtless,  it  can  be  only 
great  and  awful  events  which  may  appropri- 
ately be  represented  under  such  imagery ; 
revolutions  wide-reaching  and  overwlielming, 
a  downfall  of  earthly  powers  and  dignities  as 
great  as  the  imagination  is  capable  of  conceiv- 
ing. Yet  such  events  have  transpired  in  his- 
tory; and  such  we  believe  to  be  indicated 
here. — And  the  stars  of  heaven  fell  unto 
the  earth,  even  as  a  fig-tree  casteth  her 
untimely  figs,  when  she  is  shaken  of  a 
mighty  wind.  The  Alexandrine  manuscript 
reads,  "stars  of  God."  There  is,  however, 
no  occasion  for  change.  We  are  not  to  take 
sun,  moon,  and  stars,  as  symbols  of  earthly 
dignities.  The  scene  as  a  whole  is  symbolical, 
and  to  be  interpreted  in  the  general  way  inti- 
mated above. — And  the  heaven  departed 
as  a  scroll  when  it  is  rolled  together; 
and  every  mountain  and  island  were 
moved  out  of  their  places.  "Rolled  up" 
is  a  better  rendering.  The  description  is  an 
exceedingly  vivid  one  of  what  would  appear 
to  a  beholder,  so  placed  as  to  see  before  him 
the  earth  and  the  enveloping  sky,  with  the 
orbs  that  roll  in  space,  seemingly  all  rushing 
to  destruction,  and  mingled  in  a  common 
ruin.  Under  this  tremendous  imagery  are 
Apocalyptically  set  forth  events  in  divine 
providence,  in  which  God's  judgments  upon 
ungodly  and  cruel  men,  as  nations  and  as 
individuals,  are  seen  in  operation. 

15.  And  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  the 
great  men,  and  the  rich  men,  and  the 
chief  captains,  and  the  mighty  men, 
and  every  bond  man,  and  every  free  man, 
hid  themselves  in  the  dens  and  in  the 
rocks  of  the  mountains.  Tbe  translation 
in  the  n'vision  is  better;  "And  the  kings  of 
the  earth,  and  the  princes,  and  the  cliief  cap- 
tains [marg.  military  tribuncn],  and  the  rich, 


Ch.  VI.] 


REVELATIOK 


105 


16  "And  said  to  the  mountains  and  roclcs,  Fall  on  us, 
and  hide  us  from  the  face  of  him  that  sitteth  on  the 
throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb: 

17  'For  the  great  day  of  his  wrath  is  come ;  "  and  who 
shall  be  able  to  stand? 


16  caves  and  in  the  rocks  of  the  mountains;  and  they 
say  to  the  mountains  and  to  the  rocks,  Fall  on  us 

and  hide  us  from  the  face  of  him  tliat  sitteth  on  the 

17  throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb:  for  the 
great  day  of  their  wrath  is  come ;  and  who  is  able 
to  stand  ? 


aHos.  10:8;  Luke  23:  30;  ch.  9  :  6..  ..6  Isa.  13  :  6,  etc  :  Zepli.  1:  14,  etc. ;  oh.  16  :  U....cPs 


76:  7. 


and  the  strong,  and  every  bondman  and  free 
man,  hid  themselves  in  the  caves  and  in  the 
rocks  of  the  mountains."  It  is  a  description 
of  the  general  consternation  that  mankind, 
in  all  classes  and  conditions,  are  wont  to  feel, 
even  in  the  midst  of  great  political  convul- 
sions, with  consequent  disorder,  social  chaos, 
and  personal  suffering— "the  sea  and  the 
waves  roaring;  men's  hearts  failing  them  for 
fear,  and  for  looking  after  those  things  which 
are  coming  on  the  earth." 

16.  Aud  said  to  the  mountains  and 
rocks,  Fall  on  us,  and  hide  us  from  the 
face  of  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne, 
and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb.  We 
are  to  keep  in  mind  in  what  presence  John  is 
still  standing,  while  this  scene  passes  before 
his  eyes.  The  centre  of  the  whole  mighty 
vision  is  the  Throne,  with  the  resplendent 
form  there  seated,  and  the  Lamb  with  the 
sealed  book.  The  affrighted  nations,  their 
kings  and  their  chief  captains,  appear  in  the 
vision  as  if  conscious  of  that  presence,  and  of 
the  judicial  character  of  the  visitation  so 
frightful  to  them. 

17.  For  the  great  day  of  his  wrath  is 
come ;  and  who  shall  be  able  to  stand  ? 
An  important  difference  of  reading  occurs 
here.  The  Sinaitic  manuscript  has  "of  their 
{avTav)  wrath."  This  reading  the  revision 
adopts.  As  the  words  stand  in  the  common 
version,  it  is  only  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb  that 
is  the  subject  of  mention  in  the  last  verse.  The 
changed  reading  is  probably  the  preferable 
one,  meaning  the  wrath  of  him  that  sitteth 
on  the  throne,  and  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb. 

GENERAL   COMMENTS. 

We  are  quite  willing,  now,  to  concede  that 
if  this  remarkable  passage  be  taken  to  indicate 
political  convulsions  and  revolutions  only,  and 
not,  as  so  many  writers  have  assumed,  the  end 
of  all  things  at  the  last  judgment,  only  politi- 


cal changes  of  the  most  extraordinary  nature 
could  adequately  meet  the  conditions  of  au 
interpretation  so  grounded.  But  it  seems  to 
us  that  these  conditions  are  fully  met  in  what 
has  transpired  at  difl^erent  times  in  the  world's 
history,  and  by  no  means  least  of  all  in  that 
remarkable  event,  implying  so  much  in  itself, 
and  carrying  with  it  such  tremendous  conse- 
quences—the fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  It 
was  an  event  of  the  greatest  moment  in  the 
general  history  of  the  kingdom  of  God  among 
men.  It  was  the  final  passing  away  of  the 
ancient  order;  the  old  world  therein  perished, 
and  out  of  the  chaos  a  new  world  was  born. 
Modern  Christian  civilization,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  progress  of  the  gospel,  and  the  devel- 
opments and  achievements  of  Christianity 
itself,  became  possible  alone  in  the  passing 
away  of  a  political  system  so  identified  with 
the  old  idolatries  and  all  that  was  most  char- 
acteristic of  heathen  civilization.  But  in  it- 
self it  was  a  wonderful  event,  well  deserving 
a  prominent  representation  upon  the  vast 
Apocalyptic  scene;  while  the  convulsions, 
the  destructive  wars,  the  exhibitions  of  human 
violence,  the  downfall  of  thrones  and  digni- 
ties, the  wide-spread  miseries,  the  general 
chaos  accompanying  it,  make  appropriate  for 
a  prophetic  delineation  of  it,  even  such 
imagery  as  appears  in  the  verse  just  consid- 
ered. 

It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  we  assign  the 
events  foreshadowed  in  this  sixth  chapter,  so 
far  as  limitation  of  the  kind  is  implied,  to  the 
period  of  the  Roman  Empire.  We  do  not 
understand  specific  events,  or  individual  per- 
sons, or  even  any  exact  period  of  time  to  be 
indicated ;  but  only,  in  general,  those  events 
and  changes  which  characterijced  the  centu- 
ries during  which  Christianity  was  beginning 
its  long  career,  and  Paganism,  with  the  power 
that  was  its  main  support,  first  resisted,  then 
persecuted,  but  finally  itself  perished. 


106 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  VII. 


AND  after  these  things  I  saw  four  angels  standing  on 
the  four  cofners  of  the  earth,  "  holding  the  four 
wimls  of  the  earth,  'that  the  wind  should  not  blow  on 
the  earth,  nor  on  the  sea,  nor  on  any  tree. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

1  After  this  I  saw  four  angels  standing  at  the  four 
corners  of  the  earth,  holding  the  four  winds  of  the 
earth,  that  no  wind  should  blow  ou  the  earth,  or  on 


a  Dan.  7:  2 6  eta.  9:  4. 


SEALING  OF  THE  SERVANTS 
OF  GOD. 

1-3.  The  Angels  of  the  Winds. 

1.  And  after  these  things  I  saw  four 
angels  standing  on  the  four  corners  of 
the  earth.  The  better  reading  is:  "After 
this  (a*TA  toCto)  I  saw,"  etc.  The  principle  of 
interpretation  which  we  have  thus  far  recog- 
nized, must  still  be  observed,  viz.  :  that  the 
symbo.ical  figures  introduced  in  visions  such 
as  these,  are  to  be  treated  as  symbolical  and 
representative.  Various  theories  proposed 
for  identifying  the  four  angels  here  men- 
tioned are,  for  this  reason,  not  only  unneces- 
sary, but  misleading.  Needless  and  hurtful 
complication  has  been  introduced  at  many 
points  in  this  book,  by  assuming  as  included 
in  what  is  said  so  much  more  than  belongs  to 
the  simple  and  natural  sense  of  the  words. 
John  is  not  looking,  here,  upon  actual  events 
and  personages,  but  upon  figures  and  scenes 
in  a  vision,  under  which  providential  proced- 
ures, principles  of  divine  administration, 
great  general  facts  and  truths,  are  set  forth. 
We,  therefore,  with  Lange,  view  these  four 
angels  as  "symbolical  angel  forms";  not 
"bad  angels,"  as  Calovius,  nor  "angels  of 
nature,"  as  De  Wette,  nor  "four  world- 
kingdoms,"  as  Bede— viz.  :  the  four  king- 
doms of  Assyria,  Persia,  Greece,  and  Rome 
— nor  "angels  of  the  winds,"  in  any  other 
than  a  purely  figurative  sense.  They  repre- 
sent here  in  their  action  the  idea  of  providen- 
tial delay  in  the  final  execution  of  judgment. 
Ilengstenberg  indicates  numerous  passages  in 
the  Old  Testament,  where  "winds"  are  used 
as  symbols  of  such  judgment.  One  of  these 
is  in  Jer.  49:36:  "And  upon  Eiam  will  I 
bring  the  four  winds  from  the  four  quarters 
of  heaven,  and  will  scatter  them  toward  all 
those  winds."  Another  is  Dan.  7:2:  "I 
saw  in  my  vision  by  night,  and  behold,  the 
four  winds  of  the  heaven  strove  upon  the 
great  sea."  So  in  E/ekiel  1:  4,  "a  whirl- 
wind out  of  the  north"  symbolizes  "the 
judgment  that  was  to  break  in  u]M)n  Judea 
out  of  Babylon."     Tlie  same  general  tliought 


is  in  our  present  passage;  only  the  judgment 
implied  is  not  local  and  limited,  but  com- 
prehensive of  the  whole  world.  It  is  the  four 
winds  of  the  earth,  held  in  check  by  angels 
standing  "on  the  four  corners  of  the  earth"  ; 
under  which  imagery  is  contained  the  idea  of 
universality,  so  far  as  the  world  of  men  is 
concerned. — Holding  the  four  winds  of 
the  earth,  that  the  wind  should  not  blow 
on  the  earth,  nor  on  the  sea,  nor  on  any 
tree.  The  word  for  "holding" — holding  the 
four  winds  of  the  earth" — (KparoOi/Ta?,  not 
exovTas),  means  to  hold  in  the  sense  of  restrnin- 
ing,  controlling.  There  can  be  no  good  reason 
for  individualizing  or  carrying  into  detail  the 
symbolism,  here,  as  is  done  by  Hengstenberg. 
By  the  sea  he  understands  "the  sea  of  na- 
tions"; the  trees  "correspond  to  the  kings, 
magnates,  etc.,  in  ch.  6:  15";  trees  and  grass 
"denote  the  high  and  the  low,  princes  and  sub- 
jects." It  is  by  taking  every  allusion  of  this 
kind  as  embodying  thus  some  distinct  symbol- 
ism that  so  much  complication  and  unneces- 
sary difficulty  are  introduced  in  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  book.  It  is  sufficient  for  us  to 
view  the  scene  as  a  vihole  as  thus  symbolical. 
The  winds  denote  in  a  general  way  judgment 
in  providential  visitation,  of  every  variety 
and  kind;  while  consistently  with  this,  and 
in  a  like  use  of  natural  forces  and  nn^.tlents 
to  represent  the  whole  idea  of  such  visitation 
as  reaching  to  men  and  nations,  and  of  the 
kind  so  often  mentioned  in  history,  the  world 
of  nature  is  used  to  represent  the  object  of  the 
visitation.  Providential  interposition,  how- 
ever, delays  the  execution.  The  angels  hold 
the  four  winds,  "that  the  wind  should  not 
blow  on  the  earth,  nor  on  the  sea,  nor  on  any 
tree."  This  they  do  by  divine  command. 
Associating  the  passage  here  with  the  closing 
verses  of  ch.  vi.,  the  connection  is  clear.  In 
those  verses  the  world  of  men  is  seen  filled 
with  consternation,  and  as  if  expecting  the 
end  of  all  things,  in  a  final,  overwlielming 
destruction.  It  seems  to  them  that  "the 
great  day"  of  "the  wrath  of  the  Lamb  "has 
come.     But  that  great  day  has  not  yet  come. 


Ch.  VII.] 


REVELATION. 


107 


2  And  I  saw  another  angel  ascending  from  the  east, 
having  the  seal  of  the  living  God:  and  he  cried  with  a 
loud  voice  to  the  lour  angels,  to  whom  it  was  given  to 
hurt  the  earth  and  the  sea, 

3  Saying  ■"Hurt  not  the  earth,  neither  the  sea,  nor 
the  trees,  till  we  have  'sealed  the  servants  of  our  God 
''in  their  foreheads. 


2  the  sea,  or  upon  any  tree.  And  I  saw  another  angel 
ascend  from  the  suurising,  having  the  seal  of  the 
living  God  :  and  he  cried  with  a  great  voice  to  the 
four  angels,  to  whom  it  was  given  to  hurt  the  earth 

3  and  the  sea,  saying.  Hurt  not  the  earth,  neither  the 
sea,  nor  the  trees,  till  we  shall  have  sealed  the  ser- 


ach.6:  6;  9:4 b  Ezek.  9  :  4;  ch.  14: 1...  .c  ch.  22  :  4. 


The  purposes  of  God  toward  his  church  and 
toward  the  world  have  by  no  means  as  yet 
been  accomplished.  "The  mystery  of  God  " 
is  not  yet  "finished."  Hence  this  picture  of 
an  interposing  providence,  giving  command 
to  those  charged  with  the  execution  of  his 
judgments  upon  a  wicked  world,  to  hold  the 
four  winds  of  his  destroying  visitation,  "that 
the  wind  should  not  blow  upon  the  earth," 
and  so  "make  a  full  end"  at  once.  The 
reason  of  this  appears  in  what  follows. 

2.  And  I  saw  another  angel  ascending 
from  the  east.  Again  it  is  simply  a  repre- 
sentative angel  form,  not  to  be  taken  as 
Gabriel,  nor  as  the  .Lord  Jesus,  nor  as  the 
Holy  Spirit,  nor  any  otherwise  than  in  the 
same  representative  way  as  the  four  angels 
previously  mentioned.  The  better  transla- 
tion is,  "I  saw  another  angel  ascend  from  the 
sunrising."  Ellicott's  note,  here,  is  equally 
just  and  beautiful:  "  The  angels  appear  as 
carrying  out  the  purposes  of  God.  This  angel 
rises  into  view  from  the  door  of  the  dawn. 
In  the  midst  of  dark  symptoms  of  coming 
storm  and  judgment  there  springs  up  a  light 
for  the  righteous,  and  joyful  gladness  for  such 
as  are  true-hearted  ;  they  need  not  be  afraid 
of  evil  tidings  whose  hearts  stand  fast  be- 
lieving in  the  Lord." — Having  the  seal  of 
the  living  God.  The  illustrative  passage, 
here,  is  2  Tiin.  2:  19:  "Nevertheless  the  foun- 
dation of  God  standeth  sure,  having  this 
seal :  The  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  his." 
Again,  in  Ei)h.  1:  13,  14,  we  read,  "In  whom 
also  after  that  ye  believed,  ye  were  sealed 
with  that  Holy  Spirit  of  promise,  which  is 
the  earnest  of  our  inheritance  until  the  re- 
demption of  the  purchased  possession,  unto 
the  praise  of  his  glory." — And  he  cried  with 
a  loud  voice  to  the  four  angels,  to  whom 
it  was  given  to  hurt  the  earth  and  the 
sea.  Here  again  the  four  angels  appear  as 
executioners  of  divine  judgment,  yet  re- 
strained by  the  power  and  command  of  him 
who  assigns  them  their  office. 

3.  Saying,  Hurt  not  the  earth,  neither 
the  sea,  nor  the  trees.     As  before,  natural 


forces  and  natural  objects  are  used  as  repre- 
sentative of  the  whole  idea  of  divine  visita- 
tion in  providential  judgments.  —  Till  we 
have  sealed  the  servants  of  our  God  in 
their  foreheads.  The  word  "our"  should 
here  be  supplied,  and  we  should  read,  "the 
servants  of  our  God."  Also  we  should  read, 
"upon"  (iiri)  their  foreheads.  The  word 
"seal,"  as  used  in  this  verse,  does  not,  of 
course,  denote  the  idea  of  fastening  together, 
as  the  word  is  often  used  at  present,  but  is 
rather  employed  in  the  older  English  sense 
of  making  a  mark  by  means  of  a  signet. 
This  is  the  ordinary  meaning  of  the  word 
"seal,"  as  found  in  the  New  Testament.  The 
symbolism  in  this  place  is  carried  out  per- 
fectly. The  destruction  threatened  is  of  that 
indiscriminate  kind  which  we  see  where  the 
powers  of  nature  come  forth,  armed  and  ter- 
rible, as  ministers  of  divine  punishment.  But 
there  are  those  whom  God  will  make  safe, 
when  the  .storm  comes.  That  they  may  be 
known  amidst  the  multitudes  of  men,  they 
are  chosen  forth,  and  each  receives  the  seal 
of  God  upon  his  forehead.  In  the  interpre- 
tation of  this  sj-mbolism,  we  come  upon  that 
simple  yet  cardinal  truth  set  forth  in  the 
passages  quoted  above,  "The  Lord  knoweth 
them  that  are  his."  He  seals  them  "with 
that  Holy  Spirit  of  promise,  which  is  the 
earnest  of  their  inheritance."  In  other  words, 
the  promised  Holj'  Spirit  works  within  them 
that  regenerating  change  which  sets  them 
apart  as  the  children  of  God;  "and  if  chil- 
dren, then  heirs,  heirs  of  God  and  joint-heirs 
with  Christ."  Until  the  multitude  of  these 
shall  have  been  gathered  out  of  the  world,  in 
its  ages  and  generations  of  time,  final  judg- 
ment is  withholden.  "The  great  day"  of 
the  Lamb's  wrath  comes  not  until  then,  how- 
ever in  the  special  judgments  visited  upon 
the  world,  the  nations  in  their  terror  and 
confusion  may,  at  times,  imagine  that  they 
see  its  portents  alread,y  thundering  and  gleam- 
ing over  them.  This  general  truth,  in  the 
dispensations  of  God  toward  his  people  and 
toward  the  world — this,  and  this  only — WQ 


108 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  VII. 


4  "And  I  heard  the  number  of  them  which  were 
sealed:  and  there  were  sealed  'a  hundred  nitd  lurty  and 
four  thousand  of  all  the  tribes  of  the  children  of  Israel. 

5  Of  the  tribe  of  Juda  were  sealed  twelve  thousand. 
Of  the  tribe  of  Reuben  were  sealed  twelve  thousand. 
Of  the  tribe  of  Gad  were  sealed  twelve  thousand. 

6  Of  the  tribe  of  Aser  tvere  sealed  twelve  thousand. 
Of  the  tribe  of  Nephthalim  were  sealed  twelve  thousand. 
Of  the  tribe  of  Manasses  were  sealed  twelve  thousand. 

7  Of  the  tribe  of  Simeon  were  scaled  twelve  thousand. 
Of  the  tribe  of  Levi  were  sealed  twelve  thousand.  Of 
the  tribe  of  Issachar  were  sealed  twelve  thousand. 

«  Of  the  tribe  of  Zabulon  were  sealed  twelve  thou- 
sand. Of  the  tribe  of  .Joseph  were  sealed  twelve  thou- 
sand. Of  tLe  tribe  of  Benjamin  were  sealed  twelve 
thousand. 


4  vants  of  our  God  on  their  foreheads.  And  I  heard 
the  number  of  them  that  were  sealed,  a  hundred 
and  forty  and  four  thousand,  sealed  out  of  every 
tribe  of  the  children  of  Israel. 

5  Of  the  tribe  of  Judah  were  sealed  twelve  thousand : 
Of  the  tribe  of  Reuben  twelve  thousand: 

Of  the  tribe  of  Gad  twelve  thousand : 

6  Of  the  tribe  of  Asher  twelve  thousand : 
Of  the  tribe  of  Naphtali  twelve  thousand: 
Of  the  tribe  of  Manasseh  twelve  thousand: 

7  Of  the  tribe  of  Simeon  twelve  thousand  : 
Of  the  tribe  of  Levi  twelve  thousand  : 

Of  the  tribe  of  Issachar  twelve  thousand: 

8  Of  the  tribe  of  Zebulun  twelve  thousand : 
Of  the  tribe  of  Joseph  twelve  thousand: 

Of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  were  sealed  twelve  thou- 
sand. 


o  ch.  9:  16 6  ch.  14:  1. 


conceive  to  be  set  forth  in  the  passage  here 
studied.  Under  the  imagery  of  the  seal  upon 
the  forehead  is  contained  the  thought  that 
the  work  of  grace  wrought  within  by  the 
Spirit  is  of  a  nature  to  be  known  outwardly 
in  "a  well-ordered  life  and  a  godly  conver- 
sation." 

4-8.  The  Number  of  the  Seals. 

4.  And  I  heard  the  number  of  them 
which  were  sealed ;  and  there  were 
sealed  a  hundred  and  forty  and  four 
thousand  of  all  the  tribes  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel.  We  reserve  for  the  Gen- 
eral Comments  some  notice  of  the  signifi- 
cance of  this  representation  of  the  sealed  by 
the  names  of  the  tribes.  What  is  to  be 
understood  by  the  numbers  given  is  also 
noticed  further  on.— Of  the  tribe  of  Jndah 
were  sealed  twelve  thousand,  etc.  Elli- 
cott  very  properly  rejects  the  view  of  those 
who  understand  those  thus  sealed  to  be  Jewish 
Christians.  He  says:  "The  time  of  judg- 
ment and  trial  is  drawing  near;  we  have 
seen  the  tokens  of  the  coming  storm  in  the 
opening  of  the  sixth  seal;  our  wish  is  to 
know  the  lot  of  the  saints  of  God.  This  chap- 
ter answers  this  wish;  they  are  safe,  having 
the  seal  of  God.  Now  to  limit  the  answer  to 
Israelitish  Christians  is  to  break  in  abruptly 
upon  the  general  flow  of  thought  with  a  bald 
literalism.  The  sealed  ones  are  explained 
to  be  the  servants  of  Gf)d;  the  description 
which  follows  proclaims  them  to  be  the  Israel 
of  God."  As  we  observe  more  closely  the 
enumeration  of  the  tribes,  some  peculiarities 
in  the  names  given,  and  the  order  in  which 
they  stand,  should  be  noticed:  (1)  Reuben 
no  longer  leads  the  roll,  and  Judah  takes  his 
place.  "Unstable  as  water,  thou  shalt  not 
excel,"  was  said  to  him,  by  the  dying  father 


and  patriarch.  (Gen.  49:4).  To  Judah  it  was 
said  :  "  Thou  art  he  whom  thy  brethren  shall 
praise  .  .  .  unto  him  shall  the  gathering  of 
the  people  be."  In  accordance  with  this, 
Judah  here  heads  the  roll  of  the  tribes.  (2) 
The  tribe  of  Dan  is  not  named  at  all..  This 
consists  with  the  fact  that  the  tribe  of  Dan 
became  in  due  time  wholly  extinct;  having 
first  lapsed  into  heathenism  and  immorality. 
Among  this  "  twelve,"  also,  there  was  a  faith- 
less one,  who,  like  Judas,  went  "to  his  own 
place."  In  each  instance  is  a  warning  against 
unfaithfulness.  "Begin  not  to  say  within 
yourselves.  We  have  Abraham  to  our  father." 
A  spiritual  ancestry  is  no  security  against  the 
consequences  of  spiritual  apostasy.  "Let 
him  that  thinketh  he  standeth,  take  heed  lest 
he  fall."  (3)  Neither  does  the  name  of  Eph- 
raim  appear,  apparently  for  a  like  reason — 
that  of  Joseph  taking  its  place.  The  number 
twelve  is  thus  preserved,  while  the  lessons  of 
tribal  history  are  marked  and  emphasized. 
The  number  of  "twelve  thousand,"  sealed 
from  each  of  the  tribes,  with  the  hundred 
and  forty-four  thousand  which  appears  in  the 
sum,  while  not  of  course  to  be  taken  literally, 
is  significant.  "Twelve,"  says  Carpenter  in 
Ellicott,  "is  used  as  the  number  of  tho.se  who 
in  every  age  have  been  called  out  to  witness 
for  some  truth  which  the  world  needed." 
Such  were  the  twelve  tribes;  .such,  again, 
were  the  twelve  apostles.  "The  number 
twelve,  then,  stands  for  a  world-witness  of 
divine  truth;  and  the  fruit  of  this  world- 
witness  is  a  wide  and  sustained  success;  the 
twelve  multiplied  by  the  twelve  a  thousand- 
fold. .  .  .  The  skeleton  organization  is 
twelve,  the  college  of  the  apostles;  the  one 
hundred  and  forty-four  thousand  represent 
the  growth   into  full  numbers  of  the  choice 


Ch.  VII.] 


REVELATION. 


109 


9  After  this  I  beheld,  and,  lo.  "a  great  multitude, 
which  no  man  could  number,  »of  all  nations,  and 
kindreds,  and  people,  and  tongues,  stood  before  the 
throne,  and  before  the  Lamb,  "clothed  with  white 
robes,  and  palms  in  their  hands ; 


9  After  these  things  I  saw,  and  behold,  a  great  multi- 
tude, that  no  man  could  number,  out  of  every 
nation,  and  of  al/  tribes  and  peoples  and  tongues, 
standing  before  the  throne  and  before  the  Lamb, 
arrayed  in  white  robes,  and  palms  in  their  hands; 


;  Rom.  11  :  25 ft  ch.  5  :  9 c  oh.  3:  5,  18;  4:4;  6:  11 ;  ver.  14. 


ones  of  God."  The  number,  therefore,  is 
itself  a  symbol,  and  by  no  means  to  be  taken 
as  expressing  an  exact  enumeration.  Its  re- 
currence in  such  connections  may  indicate 
to  us  tlie  unchangeableness  as  well  as  the 
definiteness  of  the  divine  purposes  of  grace. 
Of  this,  more  in  the  General  Comments. 

9-17.  The  Gre.\t  Multitude. 

9.  After  this  I  beheld,  and  lo,  a  great 
multitude,  which  no  man  could  number, 
of  all  nations,  and  kindreds,  and  peoples, 
and  tongues.  Here  the  reading,  "After 
these  things"  (fiera  TaCra),  is  the  correct  one. 
The  rendering  may,  in  other  respects,  be 
made  more  exact:  "After  these  things  I  saw 
and  behold  a  great  multitude  which  no  man 
could  number"  [the  verb  being  in  the  past 
tense]  oid  of  every  nation  [the  word  for  "na- 
don"  being  singular,  while  those  which  fol- 
low are  plural],  and  of  [all]  tribes,  and  peoples, 
and  tongues.  [The  past  tense,  ^^ could  num- 
ber," instead  of  the  present  ^^  can  number," 
may  perhaps  have  been  chosen  because  it  pre- 
sented the  idea  in  a  more  realistic,  pictorial 
way — as  if  the  attempt  had  been  made,  or  at 
least  contemplated,  and  found  to  be  altogether 
beyond  the  power  of  human  computation. — 
A.  H.]  Alford's  note,  here,  is,  "that  this  very 
specification  of  a  multitude  without  number, 
carries  us  past  the  first  and  millennial  resur- 
rection, indicated  in  the  two  former  parables 
of  Matt.  25,  and  past  the  final  judgment  sub- 
limely described  at  the  end  of  that  chapter." 
He  regards  the  words  in  Matthew,  "but  the 
righteous  into  life  eternal,"  as  indicating  "the 
point  at  which  our  vision  takes  up  the  proph- 
ecy." It  is  more  than  doubtful  if  any  such 
close  and  exact  parallelism  between  the  pas- 
sage in  Matthew  and  the  passage  here,  as  Al- 
ford  takes  as  the  basis  of  his  whole  scheme 
of  interpretation  in  this  part  of  our  book, 
can  safely  be  assumed.  That  the  Apocalypse 
is,  in  substance,  the  expansion  and  completion 
of  that  twenty-fifth  chapter,  as  Alford  and 
others  seem  to  think,  is  as  much  pure  assump- 
tion as  any  other  of  the  many  theories  in- 
vented with  a  view  to  a  like  purpose.  Illus- 
trative  parallel   passages   may   be   found    in 


abundance,  as  aids  in  our  exposition,  alike  in 
the  Old  Testament  and  in  the  New;  but  we 
have  no  indication  anywhere  in  the  book  we 
are  studying,  that  it  has  more  than  this  gen- 
eral connection  with  any  other  part  of  Scrip- 
ture. Each  passage  is  best  understood  in  its 
own  connection,  and  it  is  here  that  we  must 
seek  a  clue  to  the  interpretation  of  what  is 
now  before  us.  Two  general  thoughts,  each 
of  great  moment  in  any  right  view  of  God's 
methods  of  grace  and  providence,  are  pre- 
sented in  those  two  significant  representations 
under  which  all  the  symbolism  of  this  chapter 
may  be  grouped  :  (1)  The  first  of  these  is  the 
watchful  guardianship  of  God  in  behalf  of  his 
own  people,  and  his  adjustment  of  the  meth- 
ods of  providence  to  the  methods  of  grace 
during  this  entire  dispensation.  Final  judg- 
ment is  not  suflTered  to  come  upon  the  world 
until  the  purposes  of  grace  have  all  been  ac- 
complished. Of  those  who  had  been  "given" 
him  in  the  covenant  of  redempticm,  the  Ee- 
deemer  must  be  able  to  say,  "I  have  lost 
none. "  The  number  of  the  elect  will  be  exact 
and  complete.  This  idea  is  set  forth  in  the 
sealing,  and  in  the  round  number  of  twelve, 
thousand  from  each  tribe,  and  of  the  hundred 
and  forty-four  thousand  as  the  sum  of  all. 
This  is  "  ^/te  election  of  grace."  (2)  But 
another  idea  needs  to  be  made  prominent  and 
clear  in  this  connection.  The  inference  must 
not  be  left  that  the  number  of  the  finally 
saved  is  limited  in  some  such  way  as  indicated 
in  the  numbers  employed,  or  that,  even,  it 
should  be  in  the  power  of  human  calculation 
to  express  the  "multitude"  of  those  whom 
the  Kedeemer  brings  with  him  in  the  final 
triumph  and  glory  of  his  kingdom.  To  set 
forth  here,  in  this  connection,  the  pregnant 
fact  in  this  regard,  we  consider  to  be  the  pur- 
pose of  that  portion  of  our  chapter  which  is 
now  under  consideration.  There  is,  no  doubt, 
a  general  reference  to  the  result  of  redemption 
as  it  shall  appear  when  the  elect  of  God  shall 
be  gathered  in.  But  we  do  not  understand 
that  there  is  any  specific,  least  of  all  any 
"chronological,"  description  of  the  Lord's 
second  coming,  as  if  in  any  precise  order  of 


110 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  VIL 


10  And  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  "Salvation  to 
our  Gild  '' wliich  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the 
Lamb. 

U  i^And  all  the  angels  stood  round  about  the  throne, 
and  about  the  elders  and  the  lour  beasts,  and  fell  before 
the  throne  on  their  faces,  and  worshipped  (iod, 

12  ''Saying,  Aaien:  Blessing,  and  glory,  and  wisdom, 
and  thanksgiving,  and  honour,  and  power,  and  might,  bt 
unto  our  God  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen. 


10  and  they  cry  with  a  great  voice,  saying,  Salvation 
unto  our  God  who  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  unto 

11  the  Lamb.  And  all  the  angels  were  standing  round 
about  the  throne,  and  abintt.  the  elders  and  the  four 
living  creatures;  and  they  fell  before  the  throne  on 
their    faces,  and    worshipped    God,   saying.   Amen: 

12  1  Blessing,  and  glory,  and  wisdom,  and  thanksgiving, 
and  honour,  and  power,  and  might,  be  unto  our  G(S 


oPa.  3.  8;  Isa.  43  :  11 ;  Jer.  3  :  23  ;  Ho3e;i  13  :  4;  oil.  19:  1 h  ch.  5:  13 c  ch.  i: 

the  glory,  etc. 


6 d  ch.  5  :  13,  U. IGr.  The  blessing   and 


events  we  had  now  been  brought  down  to  that 
end  and  summary  of  all.  The  vision  repre- 
sents, in  this  respect,  not  a  chronologj',  but  a 
doctrine,  and  aims  to  fix  the  thought,  not  upon 
an  event,  but  upon  a  truth.  This  truth  is, 
that  while,  as  before  represented,  "the  Lord 
knoweth  them  that  are  his,"  while  not  one  of 
them  shall  fail  in  the  final  gathering  of  his 
elect,  the  actual  number  of  such  is  "a  great 
multitude  which  no  man  could"  tell — a  mul- 
titude out  of  the  power  of  human  methods  of 
enumeration  to  express. — Stood  before  the 
throne,  and  before  the  Lamb.  Hasty 
readers  of  this  book,  we  imagine,  sometimes 
overlook  the  fact  that  the  position  of  the  sea 
has  remained  unchanged,  while  it  is  only  in 
special  features  of  the  vision  that  change 
occurs.  He  is  like  one  watching  the  succes- 
sive scenes  of  a  drama,  in  which  new  person- 
ages and  new  incidents  from  time  to  time 
appear,  while  the  spectator,  the  stage,  and  the 
general  surroundings  are  the  same  through- 
out.— Clothed  with  white  robes.  The 
white  robes  are  emblems  of  righteousness, 
"the  righteousness  of  the  saints." — And 
palms  in  their  hands.  There  is,  probably, 
here,  an  allusion  to  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles, 
in  which  ancient  Israel  celebrated  their  de- 
liverance out  of  Egypt,  and  the  triumphant 
conclusion  of  their  wilderness  journey.  "The 
people,"  says  Ellicott,  "forsook  their  homes 
and  dwelt  in  booths;  the  streets  were  full  of 
glad  multitudes  who  carried  branches  of  palm 
and  olive  and  myrtle;  everywhere  the 
sounds  of  rejoicing  and  singing  were  heard  ; 
'there  was  very  great  gladness'."  It  was  also 
the  feast  of  harvest,  or  of  "ingathering." 
The  sealing  before  described  bears  some 
analogy  to  that  sprinkling  of  the  door-posts 
of  the  Hebrew  homes  in  Egypt  which  pro- 
tected them  from  the  destroyer,  commemo- 
rated in  the  Passover;  the  appearance  now  on 
the  scene,  of  this  great  multitude  of  rejoicing 
and  triumphing  ones, each  with  a  palm-branch 
as  the  emblem  of  victory  and  peace,  is  the 


heavenly  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  celebrating  the 
safe  passage  of  the  wilderness  and  the  joyful 
"  harvest-home." 

10.  And  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  say- 
ing. Salvation  to  our  God  which  sitteth 
upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb. 
Some  would  read,  supplj'ing  the  ellipsis, 
"Salvation  is  unto,"  or  "ts  due  unto"; 
others,  "Salvation  be  unto,"  "be  ascribed 
unto."  The  latter  is  preferable.  Carpenter, 
in  Ellicott,  thinks  that  the  language  in  ver. 
14  warrants  us  in  taking  the  salvation,  here, 
in  its  most  comprehensive  sense,  "including 
every  deliverance  from  the  curse  of  the  law, 
from  the  power  of  sin,  and  from  the  perils 
of  life."  We  should  note  here,  again,  how 
the  Lamb  is  named  along  with  "our  God," 
and  made  the  recipient  of  equal  honor  as  the 
author  of  salvation. 

11.  And  all  the  angels  stood  round 
about  the  throne,  and  about  the  elders 
and  the  four  beasts,  and  fell  before  the 
throne  on  their  faces,  and  worshipped 
God.  We  may  translate,  with  the  revisers, 
"And  all  the  angels  were  standing."  The 
second  "about"  should  be  omitted.  It  is 
"the  innumerable  company  of  angels"  men- 
tioned before,  in  ch.  5:  11.  Here,  as  there, 
they  appear  as  encircling  the  group  first  re- 
vealed in  the  sublime  theophany,  and  as  be- 
holding with  interest  and  with  acclamation 
these  successive  acts  of  the  vision  in  which 
the  wonders  of  divine  administration  appear. 
We  are  reminded  here,  as  we  listen  to  this 
response  to  the  chorus  of  the  redeemed,  of 
what  our  Lord  tells  us  of  the  "joy  in  heaven 
among  the  angels  of  God  over  one  sinner 
that  repenteth."  How  much  more  over  this 
"great  multitude  which  no  man  can  num- 
ber"? 

12.  Saying,  Amen  ;  Blessing,  and  glory, 
and  wisdom, and  thanksgiving,  and  hon- 
our, and  power,  and  might,  be  unto  our 
God,  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen.  Carpen- 
ter,  in   Ellicott,   notices  what  he  terms  the 


Ch.  VII.] 


REVELATION. 


Ill 


13  And  one  of  the  elders  answered,  saying  unto  me, 
What  are  these  which  are  arrayed  in  "wliite  robes? 
and  whence  came  they? 

14  And  1  said  unto  him.  Sir,  thou  knowest.  And  he 
said  to  me,  'These  are  they  which  came  out  ol'  great 
tribulation,  and  have  « washed  their  robes,  and  made 
them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 


13  'for  ever  and  ever.  Amen.  And  one  of  the  elders 
answered,  saying  unto  me,  These  that  are  arrayed 
in  the  white  robes,  who  are  they,  and  whence  came 

14  they  ?  And  I  *  say  unto  him.  My  lord,  thou  knowest. 
And  he  said  to  me.  These  are  they  who  come  out  of 
the  great  tribulation,  and  they  washed  their  robes, 
and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 


1  ver.  9 b  ch.  6: 


17:6....clsa.  1:  18;  Heb.  9 :  14;  1  John  1:7;  ch.  1;  5; 
ages., .  .2  Gr.  have  said. 


:  Zech.  3 :  3,  4,  5. 1  Or.  unto  the  agea  of  the 


seven-fold  form  of  this  ascription,  arranging 

it  thus : 

Amen ! 
The  blessing,  and  the  glory,  and  the  wisdom, 

And  the  thanksgiving, 
And  the  honor,  and  the  power,  and  the  strength, 
(Is)  unto  our  God, 
Unto  the  ages  of  the  ages, 
Amen! 

This  seven-fold  arrangement  is  so  far  arbi- 
trary, that  one  hesitates  to  accept  Carpenter's 
view  of  it,  as  showing  "the  close  of  the 
Church's  agony,"  and  as  opposing  "the  view 
which  would  limit  the  seals  to  some  short 
period  of  the  Church's  histor3^"  It  is  doubt- 
ful if  any  symbolical  seven-fold  adjustment 
of  the  clauses  is  intended,  while  to  found  an 
important  point  of  exposition  upon  what  may 
so  easily  be  a  mere  fancy  of  the  expositor,  is 
to  hazard  a  good  deal.  At  the  same  time, 
there  is  no  good  reason  for  limiting  this  por- 
tion of  what  appears  in  connection  with  the 
opening  of  the  seals  "to  some  short  period  of 
the  Church's  history."  The  vision  does  not 
cramp  itself  within  chronological  limits  and 
bounds,  but  in  this  place,  as  perhaps  in 
others,  leaps  over  all  such,  and  exhibits  the 
fruit  of  redemption  in  its  completeness — the 
purpose  being,  as  before  shown,  to  make  clear 
that  while  in  the  sealing  and  numbering  of 
the  servants  of  God,  is  figuratively  set  forth 
the  exactness,  in  order,  method,  and  result, 
of  God's  electing  grace,  the  real  and  actual 
fruits  of  that  grace  are  such  as  here  displayed. 
In  presenting  to  us  this  general  truth  the 
whole  scheme  and  period  of  redemption  are 
brought  under  view,  and  we  see  the  saved  as 
they  shall  be  when  the  heavenly  harvest- 
home  is  proclaimed. 

13.  And  one  of  the  elders  answered, 
saying  unto  me.  The  elder  "answers"  to 
a  question  in  the  mind  of  the  beholder;  not 
at  once  with  an  explanation ;  but  by  first 
putting  that  question  in  words — expressing 
the  seer's  own  thought. — What  are  these 
which  are  arrayed  in  white  robes?  and 
whence  came  they?    The  better  translation 


is:    "These  who  are  clothed  in  white  robes, 
who  are  they,  and  whence  came  they?" 

14.  And  I  said  unto  him,  Sir,  thou 
knowest.  "Sir,"  or,  "My  Lord"  (»ci)pie>ou). 
It  is  the  language,  not  of  worship,  but  of 
respectful  address. — "Thou  knowest."  I  do 
not,  and  it  therefore  belongs  to  thee,  not  to 
me,  to  tell. — And  he  said  to  me,  These 
are  they  which  came  out  of  great  tribu- 
lation. "Out  of  the  great  tribulation  (t^? 
ef^i'f^'^i  •")«  M«y<»Ais)  we  should  read,  rendering 
the  article  of  the  Greek.  We  should  also 
read  "those  coming,"  "those  that  come  (oi 
«(>xo/^*»'<"),  in  the  present  tense,  not  past,  as  in 
the  Common  Version.  The  meaning  is: 
"those  who  are  now  coming,  and  in  the  end 
will  have  come,  out  of  the  great  tribulation." 
These  last  words  may  have  some  allusion  to 
what  has  before  appeared  in  the  vision,  es- 
pecially under  the  second,  third,  fourth,  and 
fifth  seals,  indicative  of  the  scenes  of  trial 
and  conflict  awaiting  the  Church  of  God  in  a 
world  so  torn  with  tumult  and  wasted  with 
ravage.  This  does  not,  however,  limit  their 
proper  scope,  as  they  do  not  appear  to  have 
in  view  any  one  form  or  period  of  such  trial ; 
but  the  whole  period  of  Christian  trial — 
various  as  we  see  it,  in  nature  and  form — 
"the  kingdom  and  patience  of  Jesus  Christ." 
Out  of  this  in  the  successive  ages  and  genera- 
tions of  time,  the  "great  multitude"  of  the 
redeemed  come. — And  have  washed  their 
robes,  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb.  There  is  here,  again,  a  mis- 
take in  the  rendering.  We  should  read : 
"And  they  washed.  .  .  and  made,"  not  have 
washed."  The  correct  translation  points  back 
more  explicitly  to  that  former,  earthly  life  of 
the  redeemed  in  which  this  cleansing  from  all 
sin  took  place.  The  imagery  employed  is 
found  more  in  the  writings  of  John  than  in 
those  of  any  other  of  the  evangelists.  Where, 
in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  his  Gospel,  ver. 
4-11,  he  describes  the  washing  of  the  disci- 
ples' feet;  in  the  first  chapter  of  his  First 
Epistle,  ver  7:   "If  we  walk  in  the  light,  as 


112 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  VII. 


15  Therefore  are  they  before  the  throne  of  God,  and 
serve  him  day  and  night  in  his  temple:  and  he  that 
sitteth  on  the'throne  shall  "dwell  among  them. 

16  »Thev  shall  hunger  no  more,  neither  thirst  any 
more;  "neither  shall  the  sun  light  on  them,  nor  any 
heat. 

17  For  the  Lamb  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne 
"^ shall  feed  them,  and  shall  lead  them  unto  living  foun- 
tains of  waters:  'and  God  shall  wipe  all  tears  from 
their  eyes. 


15  Therefore  are  they  before  the  throne  of  God ;  and 
they  serve  him  day  and  night  in  his  temple:  and  he 
that  sitteth  on  the  throne  shall  spread  his  tabernacle 

16  over  them.  They  shall  hunger  no  more,  neither 
thirst  any  more ;  neither  shall  the  sun  strike  upon 

17  them,  nor  any  heat:  for  the  Lamb  who  is  in  the 
midst  lof  the  throne  shall  be  their  shepherd,  and 
shall  guide  theui  unto  fountains  of  waters  of  life: 
and  God  shall  wipe  away  every  tear  from  their  eyes. 


olsa.  4:5,  6;  ch.  21:  3....6  Isa.  49:  10....cPa.  121 :  6 ; 


ch.21:  4,...dP.4.23:  1; 
1  Or,  before. 


Johu  10 :  U,  14. . . .«  Isa.  25 :  8 ;  ch.  21 : 


he  is  in  the  light,  we  have  fellowship  one  with 
another,  and  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his 
Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin";  and  in  that 
familiar  saying  of  the  Baptist,  recorded  alone 
by  this  evangelist:  "Behold  the  Lamb  of 
God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world" — in  these  cases,  as  in  the  passage 
before  us,  we  find  that  view  of  the  redemptive 
work  upon  which  John  delights  to  dwell. 
Where  the  agency  of  the  redeemed  them- 
selves appears — "^/tey  washed,"  etc. — is  clear. 
They  came  to  the  fountain  of  cleansing; 
came  in  faith  to  Jesus,  whose  blood  cleanses; 
in  him  obtained  pardon,  and  in  his  righteous- 
ness were  clothed  upon,  so  that  now  their 
"raiment"   is  "clean  and  white." 

15.  Therefore  are  they  before  the 
throne  of  God.  The  "therefore,"  in  this 
place,  "on  this  account"  (Sii  toOto),  is  in 
some  sense  emphatic.  Only  as  thus  washed 
in  the  blood  of  cleansing  could  they  be  thus 
"before  the  throne  of  God."— And  serve 
him  day  and  night  in  his  temple.  We 
do  not  forget  that  "there  is  no  night  there," 
nor  that  John  tells  us  in  another  place 
(ch.  21:22),  that  in  the  heavenly  city  he  saw 
no  temple.  The  words,  here,  however,  con- 
tain imagery  drawn  from  the  earthly  life, 
and  under  that  imagery  heavenly  things  are 
expressed.  "The  "day  and  night"  simply 
means  continual,  and  the  "temple"  indi- 
cates merely  the  nature  of  the  service.  The 
whole  representation,  taken  together,  is  that 
of  holy,  happy,  restful  occupation  in  the 
service  of  God.  The  heavenly  life,  therefore, 
is  not  one  of  mere  repose,  but  of  blissful 
activity. — And  he  that  sitteth  on  the 
throne  shall  dwell  among  them.  The 
word  for  "dwell"  ((TKr)vui<rei)  is  to  be  espe- 
cially noticed.  It  means  to  pitch  a  tent  or 
tabernacle,  to  encamp.  In  this  word,  as 
Alford  says,  "is  contained  a  multitude  of 
recollections:  of  the  pillar  in  the  wilderness, 
of  the  Shechinah  in  the  holy  place,  of  the 
tabernacle   of  witnesi<,   with   all    its  symbol- 


ism." We  might  read:  "He  that  sitteth 
upon  the  throne  shall  spread  his  tent  over 
them,"  or,  as  Ellicott  translates,  "shall  tab- 
ernacle over  them."  The  last  named  writer 
thinks  also,  that  there  seems  to  be  "a  carry- 
ing on  of  the  imagery  derived  from  the 
Feast  of  Tabernacles;  as  there  were  the 
palm-branches  of  the  harvest  joy,  so  there 
will  be  the  booth  or  the  tabernacle  of  God's 
presence  among  them.  He  shall  be  their 
pavilion,  their  shelter."  It  is  noticeable 
how  entirely  the  saved  in  heaven  find  their 
sources  of  felicity  and  of  all  good  in  God. 
Later  in  this  book,  we  are  told  how  the  very 
light  of  the  Holy  City  is  the  glory  of  God  and 
of  the  Lamb,  and  in  another  place  that  "the 
Lord  God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb  are  the 
temple  of  it."  And  here,  in  harmony  with 
such  representations,  God  makes  his  presence 
to  them  as  the  spreading  shelter  of  a  taber- 
nacle. God  and  the  Lamb  are  to  them  "all 
in  all." 

16.  They  shall  hunger  no  more,  neither 
thirst  any  more  ;  neither  shall  the  sun 
light  on  them,  nor  any  heat.  This  im- 
agery may  be  intended  to  point  a  contrast 
between  their  present  condition  and  that 
which  they  experienced  when  in  "the  great 
tribulation."  [Is  there  not  here  a  reminis- 
cence of  the  condition  of  the  chosen  people 
as  they  were  led  through  the  great  and 
terrible  wilderness  to  the  promised  land? 
— A.  H.]  It  may  express  either  literally  the 
forms  of  human  distress  particularly  named, 
or  under  these,  as  a  figure,  all  the  varied  ills 
falling  to  the  lot  of  man  in  the  vicissitudes 
of  his  earthly  life,  including  such  as  pecu- 
liarly, in  some  ages,  have  befallen  the  chil- 
dren of  God.  "Out  of"  all  that,  these 
"come,"  and  of  none  of  them  shall  they 
again  have  any  experience.  And  the  reason 
is  given. 

17.  For  the  Lamb  which  is  in  the  midst 
of'the  throne  shall  feed  them,  and  shall 
lead  them   unto   living    fountains    of 


Ch.  VII.] 


REVELATION. 


113 


waters;  and  God  shall  wipe  away  all 
tears  from  their  eyes.  The  American 
Company  of  the  English  and  American 
Revisers  think  that  we  should  read  "before 
the  throne  "  (to  ava  iiea-ov  ToO  Bpovov).  This  ren- 
dering makes  the  sense  more  clear.  Instead 
of  the  word  "feed,"  the  revision  has  "shep- 
herd" (TToi/aai/ei),  "shall  be  their  shepherd." 
The  changed  rendering  expresses  the  sense 
much  more  fully.  It  also  translates,  as  will 
be  seen,  "and  shall  guide  them  unto  fountains 
of  waters  of  life";  which  is  also  more  correct 
than  the  common  version.  The  final  words 
are  given,  "and  God  shall  wipe  away  every 
tear  from  their  eyes";  a  more  explicit  and 
emphatic  expression  than  the  more  general 
"all  tears,"  and  with  wonderful  vividness 
declares  how  entire  shall  be  the  deliverance 
from  every  cause  of  sorrow,  trial,  or  pain. 
"The  great  tribulation"  is  for  them  wholly 
and  forever  past. 

GENERAL   COMMENTS. 

We  may  now  recall  the  attention  of  the 
reader  to  what  is  said  in  the  Introduction  (jJ  5\ 
with  reference  to  the  Judaico-Christian  char- 
acter of  the  representation  under  which  in 
this  part  of  our  book  the  kingdom  of  God 
appears.  That  series  of  visions  found  in  ch. 
4:  11,  we  regard  as  viewing  the  Church  of 
God,  or  the  Kingdom  of  God,  under  the  as- 
pect in  which  the  apostle  Paul,  and  others,  so 
often  consider  it,  as  the  true,  or  the  anti- 
typical,  Israel.  The  language  and  imagery 
employed  in  this  seventh  chapter  are  .so  ex- 
pressly to  this  effect,  that  we  may  here  call 
attention  anew  to  the  point — a  very  es.sential 
one  in  the  theory  of  interpretation  we  are  fol- 
lowing. Especially  do  we  note  this— that  the 
"sealed,"  the  elect  of  God,  are  represented  as 
from  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  We  have 
thus  brought  to  view  (1)  the  fact  that,  as  Paul 
says,  "they  are  not  all  Israel  that  are  of 
Israel";  (2)  also,  that  yet  broader  truth  con- 
tained in  words  which  the  same  apostle  quotes 
from  the  prophet  Hosea ; 

I  will  call  them  my  people,  which  were  not  my  people, 

And  her  heloved,  which  was  not  beloved. 
And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  in  the  place  where  it 

was  said  unto  them,  Ye  are  not  my  people. 
There  .shall  they  be  called  the  children  ot  the  living 

God. 

If  the  reader  will  observe,  carefully,  he  will 
see  how  strictly  the  symbolism  throughout 
these  ch.   4:  10,  is  conformed  to  this  general 


view  of  the  people  of  God,  as  the  true  Israel. 
There  will  be  other  occasions  for  calling  at-, 
tention  to  this. 

Especial  mention  should  also  be  made  of 
the  constancy  of  the  representation  which 
associates  "the  Lamb"  with  "him  that  sit- 
teth  upon  the  throne,"  in  all  divine  acts, 
whether  of  judgment  and  punishment,  or  re- 
demption and  deliverance.  The  doctrinal  sig- 
nificance of  this  is  fully  apparent. 

The  connection  of  thought,  or  representa- 
tion, in  the  successive  visions,  up  to  this 
point,  should  be  carefully  observed.  Six  of 
the  seven  seals  have  now  been  opeiied.  Un- 
der the  first  four,  events  signalizing  the  pro- 
gress of  the  kingdom  of  God  among  men  are 
foreshadowed;  its  victorious  and  triumphing 
opening  era,  the  outbreak  of  the  long  struggle 
of  the  kingdom  of  evil  in  opposition;  start- 
ling and  testing  vicissitudes  in  the  inroads  of 
damaging  error,  and  the  assaults  of  persecu- 
tion. Here  a  pause  occurs  in  the  movement 
of  the  great  drama,  in  its  historical  aspect. 
The  fifth  and  sixth  seals  present,  not  so  much 
methods  and  incidents  of  divine  administra- 
tion, as  prifwiples  and  purposes.  It  is  as  if  to 
one  observing  these  great  events,  transpiring 
upon  such  a  mighty  scale,  and  arraying  in 
opposition  elements  so  tremendous,  questions 
arise.  It  almost  seems  as  if  the  wicked  pre- 
vail. The  power  of  the  world  is  in  the  han<j3: 
of  God's  enemies,  and  they  u,se  it  to  oppress 
and  murder  God's  children.  What  is  the 
meaning  of  this?  Has  God  abandoned  his 
own  cause?  Will  he  never  vindicate  it,  and 
those  who  die  in  defending  and  promoting  it? 
Does  the  very  gospel  of  his  salvation  fail  ? 
And  will  his  gracious  purpose  of  redemp- 
tion be  after  all  defeated?  Under  the  fifth 
and  sixth  seals  these  questions  are  answered. 
God's  martyred  saints  are  heard  crying  to 
him.  He  promises  to  avenge  them  speedily. 
It  is  shown,  too,  how  his  purposes  are  being 
wrought  out  with  the  exactness  of  arithmeti- 
cal enumeration,  so  that  of  his  redeemed  the 
number  shall  be  full  to  the  verj'  last  an<J 
latest  of  the  "called,  and  chosen,  and  faith- 
ful." Not  one  shall  be  lost.  The  number 
shall  be  round,  full,  and  complete.  And  the 
greatness  of  it  shall  surpass  even  the  possi- 
bilities of  human  conception— so  perfect  shall 
be  the  execution  of  the  divine  plan,  so  trans- 
cendent the  final  triumph  and  reign  of  re- 
demption in  the  kingdom  of  God's  grace. 


114 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  VIII. 


AND  "when  he  had  opened  the  seventh  seal,  there 
was  silence  in  heaven  about  the  space  of  half  an 
hour. 


CHAPTER  YIII. 

1      ASD  when  he  opened  the  seventh  seal,  there  fol- 
lowed a  silence  in  heaven  about  the  space  of  half  an 


We  incline  to  the  opinion  that  the  opening 
of  the  seventh  seal  should  have  been,  in  the 
division  of  chapters,  placed  in  this  immediate 
connection ;  that  the  first  verse  of  the  eighth 
chapter  should  have  been  made  the  closing 
verse  of  the  seventh.  The  stirring  scenes  of 
the  visions  under  the  six  seals  would  then 
reach  an  appropriate  close  under  the  seventh. 
As  this  last  seal  is  opened,  the  loud  voice  of 
praise  in  heaven  hushes  into  silence.  The 
scene  of  the  vision,  late  so  crowded  with  ac- 
tors and  events,  so  tumultuous  and  stormy  in 
its  representations  of  the  awful  issues  and  in- 
cidents of  human  history,  is  stilled  into  quiet, 
while  the  thronging  shadows  retire,  and  leave 
it  as  when  the  thunder-clouds  in  the  sky  have 
passed  away,  and  all  the  heaven  is  serene. 


THE    SEVENTH    SEAL    AND    THE 

FIRST    FOUR    TRUMPETS. 
1.  Opening  OF  THE  Seventh  Seal.    And 
when   he  had   opened  the  seventh  seal. 

If  in  the  division  of  chapters,  this  verse  had 
been  placed,  as  probably  it  ought  to  have 
been,  at  the  close  of  the  seventh  chapter,  its 
relation  to  what  follows,  in  this  now  before 
us,  would  have  been  more  clearly  evident. 
Or  rather,  it  would  have  been  more  readily 
perceived  how,  with  this  verse,  which  de- 
scribes the  opening  of  the  seventh  seal,  the 
visions  immediately  connected  with  the  open- 
ing of  the  seals  come  to  a  pause.  Under  the 
sixth  seal  redemption  is  seen  in  its  full  ac- 
complishment. Grace  is  triujiiphant;  the 
harvest  of  salvation  is  gathered  in;  the 
"tribulation"  is  past,  and  the  final  blessed- 
ness has  come.  The  silence  which  follows 
the  opening  of  the  seventh  seal,  as  will  be 
noticed  below,  is  in  these  circumstances 
deeply  significant;  in  this  interval  of  silence, 
what  is  especially  imported  by  the  seals 
reaches  its  consummation,  while  a  new  series 
of  visions  begins.  All  this  would  have  been 
suggested  at  once,  if  in  the  arrangement  of 
matter  in  this  book,  the  verso  which  describes 
the  opening  of  the  seventh  seal  had  been  put 
in  what  seems  its  true  connection. — There 
was  silence  In  heaven.    At  the  sounding 


of  the  seventh  trumpet  (ii:i5),  "great  voices 
in  heaven"  cry:  "The  kingdoms  of  this 
world  are  become  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord 
and  of  his  Christ."  At  the  pouring  out  of 
the  seventh  vial,"  a  great  voice  out  of  the 
temple  of  heaven,  from  the  throne,"  cries: 
"It  is  done."  In  each  case  there  is  a  consum- 
mation; of  what  nature,  will  appear  when  we 
come  to  consider  the  passages  referred  to.  At 
the  opening  of  the  seventh  seal,  upon  the 
contrary,  no  "great  voice"  is  heard;  but 
deep  silence  reigns  throughout  heaven.  We 
perceive  that  this  also  denotes  a  consumma- 
tion ;  yet  one  different  from  what  is  seen  in 
the  other  cases.  The  use  of  the  number 
seven,  also,  in  the  case  of  the  seals,  of  the 
trumpets,  and  of  the  vials,  shows  that  the 
series  of  visions  occurring  under  each  of 
these  is  complete  in  itself;  this  symbolical 
number,  as  we  often  remark,  denoting,  sil- 
ways,  completeness.  We  are  allowed  to  as- 
sume, therefore,  that  each  of  these  series  has 
its  specific  subject,  presents  some  aspect  pecu- 
liar to  itself,  of  the  kingdom  of  God  among 
men,  or  of  the  world  of  men  in  relation  to 
that  kingdom ;  and  that  in  each  case  the 
Apocalyptic  order  is  so  far  complete,  that  in 
in  each  the  method  of  divine  dispensation 
brought  under  view,  is  carried  forward  to  its 
final  achievement.  In  each  case,  also,  the 
key  to  the  whole  series  of  visions  is  found  in 
that  which  first  appears.  Under  the  seals, 
the  first  of  the  series  presents  to  view  the 
gospel  of  salvation  in  its  opening  triumphant 
era.  The  visions  that  follow  exhibit,  under 
general  aspects,  the  subsequent  fortunes  of 
this  Dispensation  of  God's  grace  to  men;  the 
vicissitudes  that  befall  it,  the  defeat  and  dis- 
comfiture that  often  threaten  it;  and  still  the 
complete  final  fulfillment  of  all  its  designs. 
In  like  manner,  as  we  shall  see,  a  clue  to  the 
right  exposition  is  supplied,  in  what  appears 
as  the  trumpets  are  about  to  sound,  and  the 
vials  to  be  poured  out.  We  understand, 
therefore,  that  under  the  seals  is  presented 
the  kingdom  of  God  as  a  dispryixntion  of 
qrnce ;  it  is  redemption,  attempting,  and 
finally  achieving  purposes  of  infinite  mercy 


Ch.  VIII.] 


REVELATION. 


115 


2  "And  I  saw  the  seven  angels  which  stood  before 
God;  'and  to  them  were  given  seven  trumpets. 


2  hour.  And  I  saw  the  seven  angels  who  stand  be- 
fore God ;  and  there  were  given  unto  them  seven 
trumpets. 


oMatt.  18: 10;  Luke  1 :  19 6  2  Chr.  29:  25-28. 


to  men;  ite  final  fruit  being  "a  great  mul- 
titude" of  saved  ones  which  no  man  can 
number.  These  are  finally  seen  in  their  saved 
and  happy  state.  This  consummation  is  ap- 
propriately indicated  by  the  "silence,"  which 
follows,  symbolical  of  heavenly  rest  and 
heavenly  peace — the  beginning,  according  to 
Victorinus,  first  and  oldest  of  the  commen- 
tators on  this  book,  as  quoted  by  Alford  and 
"Wordsworth,  of  eternal  rest:  ^''initiu7n  quietis 
ceterncp."  This  we  tai^e  to  be  the  simple  and 
only  significance  of  this  silence.  "It  is,"  says 
Carpenter,  in  EUicott,  "the  rest  of  the  trou- 
bled on  the  breast  of  God." — About  the 
space  of  half  an  hour.  It  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  any  exact  space  of  time  is  in- 
tended here.  Consistently  with  the  sjnn- 
bolical  dress  in  which  all  these  visions  are 
clothed,  an  interval  of  silence  is  mentioned  : 
but  only  with  a  view  to  carry  out  thus  the 
symbolism.  If  we  translate  the  Greek  par- 
ticle more  exactly,  this  will  appear.  We  shall 
then  read:  "There  was  silence  in  heaven,  as 
it  were  (ix;)  for  half  an  hour." 

2-6.  The  Trumpet  Angels. 

2.  And  I  saw  the  seven  angels  which 
stood  [stand]  before  God.  "We  prefer  to 
view  these  as  representative  angelic  forms, 
seen  in  vision ;  not  actual  angels,  as  Diis- 
terdieck,  nor  archangels,  as  De  "Wette,  nor 
"the  seven  Spirits  of  God,"  (Rev.3:i)^  as 
Ewald.  Carpenter's  view  is  preferable.  He 
regards  "the  seven  angels  as  representatives 
of  the  power  of  God  over  the  world.  They 
are  the  seven,  the  completed  circle  of  God's 
power  in  judgment;  for  as  we  do  not  take 
the  seven  spirits  to  be  literally  seven  spirits, 
but  symbols  of  the  complete  and  manifest 
influence  of  the  one  Holy  Spirit,  the  third 
person  in  the  glorious  Trinity,  so  neither 
need  we  infer  from  the  mention  of  the  seven 
angels  here  that  they  are  literally  seven  pre- 
eminent angelic  personages,  but  rather  re- 
gard them  as  .symbols  of  that  complete  and 
varied  messenger  force  which  God  evermore 
commands." — And  to  them  were  given 
seven  trumpets.  Much  depends,  in  the 
exposition  of  what  follows,  upon  the  view 
taken   of   the    symbolism    of   the    trumpets. 


The  seals,  the  trumpets,  and  the  vials  evi- 
dently play  a  great  part  in  the  Apocalyptic 
machinery  (if  we  may  be  allowed  that  ex- 
pression) in  this  part  of  the  book— in  all  that 
portion  of  the  book,  in  fact,  which  more 
immediately  concerns  the  kingdom  of  God 
in  its  earthly  sphere.  Each,  besides,  must 
be  regarded  as  having  its  own  especial  signifi- 
cance and  design.  "What  this  is  in  each  case 
may  be  in  some  measure  inferred  from  the 
thing  itself  thus  employed,  and  from  its 
symbolical  place  in  Scripture  usage.  The 
seal  is  the  symbol  of  secrecy,  and  when 
broken  indicates  that  in  a  more  or  less  strict 
sense  the  secret  is  made  known.  Vials,  as 
used  here  and  elsewhere,  are  sj'mbols  of 
influence  or  eflTect  poured  forth  in  special 
dispensation,  mostly  of  judgment  and  pun- 
ishment. The  trumpet,  in  ancient  Hebrew 
custom,  fixed  by  divine  ordination,  had  a 
twofold  purpose:  to  call  the  people  together 
on  festival  days,  and  on  ordinary  occasions 
of  worship ;  and  to  blow  the  alarm  of  war. 
"If  ye  go  to  war  in  your  land  against  the 
enemy  that  oppresseth  you,  then  ye  shall 
blow  an  alarm  with  the  trumpets,  and  ye 
shall  be  remembered  before  the  Lord  your 
God,  and  ye  shall  be  saved  from  your 
enemies."  (Num.  io:9).  Then,  also,  for  the 
festival  day,  this  direction  is  given  in  ver.  10 
of  the  same  chapter:  "In  the  day  of  your 
gladness,  and  in  your  solemn  days,  and  in 
the  beginnings  of  your  months,  ye  shall  blow 
with  the  trumpets  over  your  burnt  otferings, 
and  over  the  sacrifices  of  your  peace  offer- 
ings." As  a  signal  for  the  march,  too,  the 
trumpets  were  to  be  blown,  as  directed  in 
ver.  5,  6,  of  the  chapter  quoted.  It  is  quite 
consistent  with  the  Judaic  dress  in  which  the 
entire  symbolism  of  this  part  of  our  book 
appears,  that  the  trumpet  angels  are  here 
introduced,  while  the  fact  that  this  sym- 
bolism is  thus  Judaic,  must  supply  the  clue 
to  its  significance  here.  "We  say,  then,  that 
while  the  seals  relate  to  what  is  interior  and 
essential  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  trunv 
pets  relate  more  to  what  is  exterior,  and  in  a 
more  strict  sense,  providential.  The  Apoca- 
lyptic seal  may  be  viewed  as  having  respect 


116 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  VIII. 


3  And  another  angel  came  and  stood  at  the  altar, 
having  a  golden  censer;  and  there  was  given  unto  him 
much  incense,  that  he  should  otter  it  with  "the  prayers 
of  all  saints  upon  ''the  golden  altar  which  was  before 
the  throne. 

4  And  "the  smoke  of  the  incense,  which  came  with 
the  prayers  of  the  saints,  ascended  up  before  God  out 
of  the  angel's  hand. 


3  And  another  angel  came  and  stood  i  over  the  altar, 
having  a  golden  censer;  and  there  was  given  unto 
him  much  incense,  that  he  should  2  add  it  unto  the 
prayers  of  all  the  saints  upon  the  golden  altar  which 

4  was  before  the  throne.  And  the  smoke  of  the  in- 
cense, '^  with  the  prayers  of  the  saints,  went  up  be- 


ich.  5:8....iEx.  30:1;  ch.  6  :  9....C  Ps.  1«  :  2  ;  Luke  1 :  10. 1  Or,  at...  .2  Gr.  give.... Z  Or.  for. 


to  that  covenant  of  God  with  his  people,  set 
forth  ancientl}'  under  the  types  of  the  sanc- 
tuary, fully  declared  in  the  provisions  and  pro- 
mises of  the  gospel,  and  executed  in  the  pro- 
gressive gathering  of  the  elect  out  of  "the 
great  tribulation."  The  Apocalyptic  trumpet 
respects  rather  the  historical  fortunes  of  the 
church,  its  outward  contact  with  all  in  the 
world  that  is  hostile  to  it,  in  the  vicissitudes 
of  its  long  journey  and  battle  in  the  wilder- 
ness, and  in  conquering  its  final  inheritance. 
"What  this  implies  must  appear  as  we  proceed. 
3.  And  another  angel  came  and  stood 
at  the  altar,  having  a  golden  censer.  The 
revisers  evidently  prefer  "over"  (em)  the 
altar,"  though  they  place  "at"  in  the  mar- 
gin. The  former  rendering  seems  preferable. 
The  Greek  preposition,  with  the  dative,  is 
more  correctly  translated  "over,"  than  "at." 
We  must  suppose,  then,  that  the  angel  ap- 
pears in  a  hovering  attitude.  The  altar  of 
burnt  offerings  has  before  been  mentioned 
(6:9);  the  altar  in  this  place  seems  to  be  the 
golden  altar  of  incense,  standing  in  the  holy 
place.  The  scenery  of  the  vision  thus,  from 
time  to  time,  introduces  the  more  marked 
features  of  the  ancient  sanctuary,  reminding 
us,  repeatedly,  that  it  is  the  Israel  of  God — 
the  true  Israel — of  which  we  are  here  reading. 
Lange  objects,  with  good  reason,  to  Diister- 
dieck's  idea  that  the  "oMer"  angel  mentioned 
"is  to  be  regarded  as  a  real  angel,"  since  that, 
says  Lange,  is  equivalent  to  saying  "that  the 
Apocalypse  is  not  to  be  treated  as  a  symboli- 
cal book  in  tliis  passage,  either."  But,  then, 
does  not  Lange  himself  abandon  the  symbol- 
ism when  he  views  this  angel  as  no  other  than 
the  Lord  himself?  Since  the  angelic  forms 
before  seen  are  symbolical,  and  rather  repre- 
Bcntative  of  ideas,  principles,  nwX  forces,  than 
as  actual  personages,  why  should  not  this 
*'otlu'r  angel"  be  so  viewed  as  well?  In  ch. 
7  :  2,  after  the  mention  of  the  four  angels  of 
tlie  winds,  "another  angel,"  evidently  to  be 
taken  in  a  similar  way,  is  introduced.  The 
same  thing  occurs  here.     "There  is  reallj'," 


as  Ellicott  says,  "no  need  to  ask  who  the 
several  angels  are.  The  angels  are  not  par- 
ticular personages,  but  symboli/"\l  of  those 
agencies — whether  personal,  or  natural,  or 
supernatural — which  are  employed  by  him 
that  sitteth  on  the  throne."  That  this  angel 
holds  in  his  hand  "a  golden  censer"  is  appro- 
priate to  the  fact  that  he  stands  by  the  altar 
of  incense.— And  there  was  given  unto 
him  much  incense,  that  he  should  otTer 
it  with  the  prayers  of  all  saints  upon  the 
golden  altar  which  was  before  the  throne. 
Ellicott  translates,  "that  he  might ^ice it  unto 
the  praj^ers  of  all  the  saints."  The  revision 
reads,  ''add  it  unto."  Either  is  preferable  to 
the  common  version,  and  "give"  is  more 
exact  than  "add,"  although  the  same  thought 
would  in  this  place  be  expressed  by  each  of 
these  two  words.  This  thought  is,  evidently, 
that  the  angel  unites  the  incense  with  the 
prayers,  making  them  thus  acceptable.  It  is 
said  that  this  incense  is  "given"  to  the  angel, 
from  which  it  is  clear  that  he  does  not  have  it 
of  himself;  so  that  we  cannot  consistently  re- 
gard him  as  the  actual  and  personal  Mediator. 
It  is  '^ ranch  incense"  that  is  given  to  him; 
thus  implying  the  abundant  measure  of  this 
element  of  acceptableness  mingled  with  the 
prayers  of  the  saints.  The  incense  itself  we 
must  take  as  that  mediatorial  eflficacy  imparted 
to  true  prayer  offered  in  the  name  of  Christ, 
the  intercessor.  Does  this  angel,  then,  dis- 
charge here  an  intercessory  office  ?  We  should 
say,  rather,  that  he  represents,  in  symbol, 
that  intercessory  office  as  discharged  by  our 
Lord  himself  There  is,  therefore,  nothing 
whatever  of  the  Romanist  notion  of  angelic 
mediation. 

4.  And  the  smoke  of  the  incense,  Avhich 
came  with  the  prayers  of  the  saints,  as- 
cended up  before  God,  out  of  the  angel's 
hand.  The  words  "which  came"  are  sup- 
plied in  our  common  version.  They  need 
not  be  read.  We  may  read,  "The  smoke  of 
the  incen.«e  went  up  before  God,  with  the 
prayers  of  the  saints."     Who  are  intended, 


Ch.  VIII.] 


REVELATION. 


117 


5  And  the  angel  took  the  censer,  and  filled  it  with 
fire  of  the  altai',  and  cast  it  into  the  earth :  and  "  there 
were  voices,  and  thuuderings,  and  lightnings,  '  and  an 
earthquake. 


5  fore  God  out  of  the  angel's  hand.  And  the  angel 
1  taketh  the  censer ;  and  he  tilled  it  with  the  fire  of 
the  altar,  and  cast  it  -  upon  the  earth ;  and  there 
followed  thunders,  and  voices,  and  lightnings,  and 
an  earthquake. 


och.  16:  18 b  2  Sam.  22:  8;  1  Kings  19;  11;  Acts  4  :  31. 1  Gr.  hath  taken 2  Or,  into. 


here,  by  "saints"  ?  In  the  ancient  sanctuary, 
while  the  officiating  priest  otfered  the  incense 
at  the  golden  altar,  the  people  without  the 
•  holy  place  were  praying.  So  we  read  in 
Luke  1:  10,  "And  the  whole  multitude  of 
the  people  were  praying  without  at  the  time 
of  incense."  So  in  the  vision,  here,  the 
"saints,"  God's  people  on  the  earth,  perhaps 
also  the  saved  in  heaven,  are,  while  the  angel 
at  the  altar  otters  the  incense,  supposed  to 
be  praying  "without."  We  are  to  associate 
with  what  actually  appears  in  the  vision  the 
thought  of  a  praying'  multitude,  especially 
the  suffering,  toiling,  and  battling  saints  on 
earth,  lifting  up  their  cry  to  God.  With  this 
prayer,  whatever  the  special  petition,  in  what- 
ever language  spoken,  whatever  the  condi- 
tions of  the  praying  one,  there  is  joined  the 
mediation  of  the  great  Intercessor,  by  which 
it  is  made  acceptable  "before  God";  is 
heard,  and  in  God's  way  and  time  shall  be 
answered. 

5.  And  the  angel  took  the  censer,  and 
filled  it  with  fire  of  the  altar.  In  the 
worship  of  the  ancient  sanctuary,  the  fire 
with  which  the  incense  was  kindled  was  taken 
from  the  altar  of  burnt-offering,  thus  pre- 
figuring the  truth  that  the  mediation  of 
Christ,  in  whom  and  in  his  great  office  all 
these  types  were  fulfilled,  drew  its  efficacy 
from  the  fact  of  his  sacrificial  death  in  atone- 
ment of  human  sin.  The  fire  which  the  angel 
in  the  vision  casts  into  the  earth,  however, 
seems  to  be  taken  from  the  golden  altar — the 
fire  with  which  the  incense  had  already  been 
kindled  and  consumed.  This  implies  how 
direct  is  the  connection  between  the  prayers 
of  God's  people,  and  those  results  which  fol- 
low in  answer  to  prayer.  For  as  the  angel 
cast  this  fire  from  the  golden  altar  into  the 
earth,  there  were  voices,  and  thunder- 
ings,  and  lightnings,  and  an  earthquake. 
We  may  find  an  illustrative  passage  in  Psalm 
18:  6-9:  "In  my  distress  I  called  upon  the 
Lord,  and  cried  unto  my  God :  he  heard  my 
voice  out  of  his  temple,  and  my  cry  came  be- 
fore him,  even  into  his  ears.  Then  the  earth 
shook  and  trembled;    the  foundations  also  of 


the  hills  moved  and  were  shaken  becau.se  he 
was  wroth.  There  went  up  a  smoke  out  of 
his  nostrils,  and  fire  out  of  his  mouth  de- 
voured: coals  were  kindled  by  it.  He  bowed 
the  heavens  also,  and  came  down  :  and  dark- 
ness was  under  his  feet."  Only,  what  is  by 
the  Psalmist  thus  vividly  given  in  poetical 
language,  appears  to  John  in  the  vision  he  is 
beholding,  as  if  it  were  all  actual  and  real. 
Yet,  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other,  the  de- 
scription is  imagery,  not  a  recital  of  actual 
fact;  under  the  guise  of  this  imagery  we  have 
here  presented  the  general  idea,  or  truth,  that 
when  his  people  in  their  "distress"  call  upon 
God,  he  hears  them,  and  that  he  answers 
them  in  providential  interpositions  as  mani- 
fest, as  signal,  and  often  as  terrible,  as  the 
"voices,  and  thunderings,  and  lightnings,  and 
an  earthquake  "  of  the  vision. 

All  this,  now,  is  prelude.  The  trumpet 
angels  stand  waiting,  as  if  for  the  signal  to 
sound.  The  portents  just  described  indicate 
that  the  prayers  of  the  saints  are  heard. 
What  follows,  as  the  successive  trumpets 
sound,  is  the  effect  seen,  as  amidst  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  its  earthly  career,  God  appears  for 
his  church,  and  brings  all  its  struggle  and 
battle  to  final  victory. 

GENERAL    COMMENTS. 

It  seems  important  that  a  few  points,  gene- 
ral in  their  bearing,  should  here  be  noted, 
before  we  proceed  with  the  exposition.  A 
question  much  discussed  is,  whether  the  trum- 
pets are  to  be  regarded  as  forming  a  part  of 
what  follows  the  opening  of  the  seventh  seal. 
Elliott,  Barnes,  and  some  others,  view  the 
seven  trumpets  as  coming  under  the  seventh 
seal,  and  the  events  announced  by  the  trum- 
pets as  chronologically  sequent  to  those  indi- 
cated by  the  seals.  Alford  treats  "the  two 
courses  of  vision"  as  "evolved  out  of  one 
another,"  although  not  to  be  viewed  as  if 
the  events  represented  by  them  were  "con- 
secutive in  order  of  time."  Dr.  Wordsworth, 
in  his  "Hulsean  Lectures  for  the  Year  1848,'" 
delivered  before  the  University  of  Cambridge, 
thinks  the  trumpets  "  do  not  succeed  the  seals; 


118 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  VIII. 


6  And  the  seven  angels  which  had  the  seven  trum- 
pets prejjared  tliemselves  to  sound. 

7  The  tirst  angel  sounded,  "and  there  followed  hail 
and  fire  mingled  with  blood,  and  they  were  cast  'upon 
the  earth:  and  the  third  i)art  "of  trees  was  burnt  up, 
and  all  green  grass  was  burnt  up. 


6  And  the  seven  angels  who  had  the  seven  trumpets 
prepared  tliciiiselves  to  sound. 

7  And  the  tir.si  sounded,  and  there  followed  hail  and 
fire,  mingled  with  blood,  and  they  were  ca.st  'upon 
the  earth  ;  and  the  third  part  of  the  earth  was  burnt 
up,  and  the  third  part  of  the  trees  was  burnt  up,  and 
all  green  grass  was  burnt  up. 


a  Ezek.  38 :  2^4 h  oh.  16 :  2 c  Isa.  2  :  13  ;  ch.  9  :  4. 1  Or,  into. 


yet  that  they  synchronize  with  them.  Not," 
he  says,  "that  the  periods  of  the  seven  trum- 
pets correspond  to  the  periods  of  the  seven 
seals,  respectively  ;  but  that  the  whole  period 
of  the  trumpets  is  the  same  as  that  of  the 
seals."  He  views  them,  also,  as  differing  "in 
kind."  Carpenter,  in  Ellicott,  thinks  that 
the  series  of  visions  under  the  seals  closes 
with  the  silence  in  heaven,  upon  the  opening 
of  the  seventh,  and  that  then  an  entirely  new 
series  begins.  This,  also,  is  Hengstenberg's 
view,  and  is  that  which  we  adopt  in  our 
own  exposition.  Dr.  Wordsworth  farther 
views  the  vision  under  the  seventh  seal  as 
suspended,  simply,  and  as  renewed  at  the 
beginning  of  ch.  21.  At  the  point  of  suspen- 
sion (7:11),  the  closing  words  are:  "And  God 
shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes." 
When  the  description  under  that  seal  is  re- 
newed, the  opening  words  (21:1)  are:  "And  I 
saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth."  Words- 
worth says,  alluding  to  the  former  of  these: 
"The  writer  is  now  called  away  to  prophesy 
again.  He  must  not  yet  dwell  on  the  joys  of 
heaven;  he  has  other  prophecies  to  deliver 
concerning  the  sufferings  of  earth.  He  must 
not  yet  speak  of  glory,  but  of  judgments. 
He  is  snatched  away  by  the  Spirit  from  the 
silence  of  the  seventh  seal,  to  listen  to  the 
terrible  blasts  of  the  seven  trumpets;  his  de- 
scription of  the  heavenly  rest  and  heavenly 
glory  being  resumed  in  ch.  21  :  1."  We  may 
add  that  after  the  sounding  of  the  sixth 
trumpet,  and  while  the  seventh  angel  pre- 
pares to  sound,  a  like  apparent  suspension 
occurs.  John  is  forbidden  to  write  what  the 
seven  thunders  then  heard  had  uttered;  and 
as  he  takes  the  "little  book"  from  the  hand 
of  "the  strong  angel,"  it  is  said  to  him: 
"Thou  must  prophesy  again  over  [in  the 
margin  ^  concerning']  many  peoples  and 
nations  and  tongues  and  kings"  {Revi.sed  Ver- 
sion). Subsequent  to  this  comes  all  that  is 
contained  in  ch.  12-19.  Then  in  ch.  20-22, 
the  final  consummatif)n  aj)p('iirs. 

It  W(»uld  seem,  thtircfore,  that  in  these  suc- 
cessive series  of   visions  to  which   the  seals. 


the  trumpets,  and  the  vials  belong,  the  same 
general  period  is  brought  under  view,  which 
is  the  period  of  the  historical  manifestation 
of  the  kingdom  of  God  among  men,  with  all 
which  that  imports.  Only,  in  each  a  different 
aspect  of  that  kingdom  is  presented,  the  his- 
torical element  involved  coming  forth  in 
greater  and  greater  distinctness  with  each  suc- 
ceeding series  of  visions.  The  sealed  book 
comprehends  the  whole,  and  it  therefore  in  a 
sense  becomes  true  that  what  is  contained 
under  the  seventh  seal  is  finally  made  known 
only  as  the  last  Apocalyptic  word  is  spoken. 

As  still  further  prefatory  to  what  we  wish  to 
say  in  our  own.  exposition  of  the  trumpets, 
we  may  observe  that,  as  is  familiar  to  every 
student  of  Christian  history,  there  are  in  that 
history  certain  epochal  outlines,  such  in  their 
character,  and  their  relation  to  the  whole,  as 
that  we  must  suppose  them  to  be  the  notable 
features  of  the  prophecy  as  they  are  of  the 
history.  Among  these  are  the  destruction  of 
the  Jewish  "state  and  nation,"  and  therein 
the  final  passing  away  of  the  .Judaic  Dispen- 
sation ;  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  involv- 
ing the  destruction  of  the  old  pagan  religion 
and  pagan  civilization;  the  great  Christian 
apostasy,  when  the  Man  of  Sin  was  revealed  ; 
and  then  that  restoration  of  the  primitive 
Christianity  through  the  Reformation  which 
has  so  wonderfully  changed  the  world's  face, 
religiously,  with  other  and  even  greater 
changes  foreshadowed.  Whatever  of  minor 
incident  may  be  included,  we  cannot  be  mis- 
taken in  assuming  that  in  the  Apocalyptic 
scheme  here  unfolded,  these  leading  ones,  so 
vast  in  themselves,  and  so  amazing  in  their 
consequences,  must  surely  be  sought  by  the 
expositor.  It  is  by  this  general  outline,  be- 
sides, that  we  shall  guide  ourselves  most 
Siifely,  and  so  be  preserved  from  that  be- 
wildering complication  of  historical  detail, 
which  has  made  so  many  of  the  expositions 
of  this  book  mere  wildernesses  of  speculation 
and  conjecture. 

6,7.  Thk  First  Tkiimimct  Sounds. 

G.  And  the  seven  angels  whieli  hud  the 


Ch.  VIII.] 


BEVELATIOK 


119 


seven  trumpets  prepared  themselves  to 
sound.  "Kaised  the  trumpets  to  their 
mouths,"  says  Alford,  "and  stood  in  attitude 
to  blow  them." 

7.  The  first  angel  sounded,  and  there 
followed  hail  and  fire,  mingled  with 
blood,  and  they  were  cast  upon  the 
earth.  In  liis  sermon  on  the  Day  of  Pente- 
cost, Peter  said,  alluding  to  the  miraculous 
outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  just  witnessed,  and 
the  scene  that  followed:  "T/iis  is  that  which 
hath  been  spoken  by  the  prophet  Joel : 

And  it  shall  be  in  the  last  days,  saith  God, 
I  will  pour  lorth  of  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh  : 

And  I  will  show  wonders  in  the  heaven  above, 

And  signs  on  the  earth  beneath; 

Blood,  and  fire,  and  vapor  of  smoke ; 

The  sun  shall  be  turned  into  darkness, 

And  the  moon  into  blood. 

Before  the  day  of  the  Lord  come, 

That  great  and  notable  day." 

The  passage  in  Joel  plainly  ])redicts  what 
should  be  seen  under  the  Gospel  Dispensa- 
tion. The  verses  from  which  the  apostle  quotes 
(joei2:28-.i2),  begin:  "And  it  shall  come  to  pass 
afterward  [Peter  changes  it  to  "in  those 
days"  J,  that  I  will  pour  out  my  Spirit  upon 
all  flesh";  and  they  close  with  the  words: 
"And  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  whoso- 
ever shall  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
shall  be  delivered;  for  in  Mount  Zion  and  in 
Jerusalem  shall  be  deliverance,  as  the  Lord 
hath  said,  and  in  the  remnant  whom  the  Lord 
shall  call."  This  is  a  clear  prediction  of  that 
day  of  grace  for  men  which  should  cover  the 
whole  period  of  gospel  proclamation  and  pro- 
gress; the  church  of  Christ,  with  its  spiritual 
provisions  and  agencies,  being  prefigured  by 
Mount  Zion  and  Jerusalem.  The  language 
descriptive  of  what  follows  the  sounding  of 
the  first  trumpet,  as  is  readily  seen,  closely  re- 
sembles that  in  the  more  ancient  prophet. 
We  cannot  but  observe,  also,  its  likeness  to 
what  appears  in  the  description  of  the  Egypt- 
ian plague  of  hail  (Ex. 9:23,-24) :  "The  Lord 
sent  thunder  and  hail,  and  the  fire  ran  along 
upon  the  ground ;  and  the  Lord  rained  hail 
upon  the  land  of  Egypt.  So  there  was  hail, 
and  fire  mingled  with  the  hail,  \evy  griev- 
ous." In  the  present  case,  there  is  "fire 
mingled  with  blood.^'  The  application  by  the 
apostle  of  the  passage  in  Joel,  and  the  marked 
similarity  between  the  imagery  in  that  pas- 


sage and  our  present  one,  seem  to  justify  us 
in  regarding  the  vision  seen  at  the  sounding 
of  the  first  trumpet  as  presenting  to  view  the 
opening  period  of  the  gospel.  It  answers  to 
the  opening  of  the  first  seal  and  the  going 
forth  of  the  rider  upon  the  white  horse;  only 
here  the  other  side  of  the  picture  is  presented. 
That  opening  era,  though  marked  and  made 
memorable  bj'  gospel  triumph,  was  still,  in 
other  aspects,  a  scene  of  signal  divine  judg- 
ment. We  see  no  necessity  for  carrying  for- 
ward the  description  to  events  that  shall 
attend  the  final  judgment,  or  to  extend  it  be- 
yond such  as  transpired  during  the  generation 
which  witnessed  the  first  preaching  and  early 
triumphs  of  the  gospel.  What  the  prophet 
Joel  predicted,  and  what  the  symbolism  we 
are  now  studying  imports,  is  not  literal  hail, 
fire,  or  blood,  but  judgments  of  God  upon 
the  enemies  of  his  word  and  his  Son,  as  sig- 
nal and  as  destructive  as  was  that  of  the  hail 
and  fire  sent  upon  the  oppressors  of  ancient 
Israel  in  Egypt,  and  realized  in  such  events 
as  the  invasion  of  Judea  by  the  Romans,  and 
the  destruction  of  the  holy  city  with  attend- 
ing circumstances  of  sufl^'ering,  horror,  and 
dismay  seldom  experienced  in  the  whole  his- 
tory of  the  world.  This  event  comes  into  view 
repeatedly  in  our  Lord's  own  predictions  of 
things  then  future,  and  it  stands  in  such  re- 
lations to  the  origin  and  final  establishment 
of  Christianity,  as  justify  us  in  viewing  it 
as  certain  of  recognition  in  such  a  book  as 
this  now  studied.  The  vision  under  the  first 
trumpet  is,  therefore,  in  some  sort  retrospec- 
tive, as  under  the  first  seal  ;  and  yet  not  alto- 
gether so,  for  the  effects  of  the  great  events  so 
symbolized  were  still  seen  in  John's  own 
time,  and  even  some  of  the  events  themselves 
were  then  in  progress,  or  yet  to  come.  What 
we  understand  by  this  vision,  then,  is  the 
py^ovidential  dispensations  with  which  God 
accompanied  the  first  proclamation  of  the 
gospel,  and  in  which  he  visited  with  deserved 
judgment  and  destruction  the  first  of  those 
great  opposing  forces — the  Judaic  "state  and 
nation" — by  which  that  proclamation  was  re- 
sisted. In  the  passage,  here,  one  feature  ap- 
pears which  we  do  not  find  in  either  of  the  par- 
allel passages  referred  to.  The  fire  is  "mijigled 
with  blood.^'  This  imports,  what  in  fact  his- 
tory records,  that  among  the  judgments  thus 
sent  was  that  of  war — bloody,  relentless,  de- 
structive,   in   a  supreme  degree. — And    the 


120 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  VIII. 


8  And  the  second  angel  sounded,  "and  as  it  were  a 

freat  uioimtain  burninj;  with  fire  was  cast  into  the  sea: 
and  the  third  part  of  the  sea  '  became  blood ; 


I  And  the  second  angel  sounded,  and  as  it  were  a 
great  mountain  burning  with  fire  was  cast  into  the 
sea :    and  the  third  part  of  the  sea  became  blood ; 


1  Jer.  51 :  25  :  Amos  7:  4....!i  ch.  16:  3 c  Ezek.  14:  19. 


third  part  of  the  earth  was  burned  up, 
and  the  third  part  of  trees  was  burnt  up, 
and  all  green  grass  was  burned  up.  This 
is  of  course,  pure  imagery,  consistent  in  its 
nature  with  that  which  goes  before.  The 
cedars  of  Lebanon  and  the  oaks  of  Bashan 
are  sometimes  used  in  Scripture  sj-mbolism 
to  represent  human  pride ;  those  lofty  ones  of 
the  earth  who  sometimes  boast  themselves 
even  against  God.  An  example  may  be  found 
at  Isa.  2  :  12,  13.  "Grass"  is  often  used  to  de- 
note humanity  in  general.  It  may  not  be 
forcing  the  imagery  too  much  to  understand 
by  the  trees  and  the  grass  in  our  present  pas- 
sage, upon  the  one  hand,  men  in  power, 
"proud  and  lifted  up,"  and  upon  the  other, 
those  in  lowlier  condition,  upon  all  of  whom, 
indiscriminately,  the  judgment  falls.  We 
must  not,  as  Carpenter  says,  "press  the 
phrase,  'the  third  part,'  too  closely;  it 
clearly  is  designed  to  remind  us  that  in  wrath 
God  remembers  mercj',  and  that  while  he 
humbles  all,  he  will  not  utterlj'  destroy."  It 
maj'  be  noticed  that  while  "the  third  part  of 
the  earth  was  burnt  up,  and  the  third  part 
of  the  trees  was  burnt  up,  all  the  green  grass 
was  'also'  burnt  up."  This,  perhaps,  implies 
nothing  more  than  what  is  well  known  as  a 
fact,  how  in  such  calamities  as  those  indicated 
by  the  imagery  here  used,  it  is  upon  the 
masses  of  the  people  that  the  blow  chiefly 
falls;  just  as  when  in  a  great  conflagration 
covering  wide  districts  of  country,  while 
many  trees  in  the  forest,  though  blasted  and 
stripped  oftheir  foliage,  are  3'et  not  wholly  con- 
sumed, the  low-lying  grasses  are  completely 
devoured  by  the  wide-s))reading  flames. 

8,  9.  TiiK  Skconu  Trumpet  Sounds. 

8,  0.  And  the  second  angel  sounded, 
and  as  it  were  a  great  mountain  burn- 
ing with  fire  was  cast  into  the  sea.  "As 
it  were  a.  great  mountain"; — the  appearance 
of  such  a  mountain — an  object  like  a  volcano 
in  full  eruption,  flaming,  smoking,  and  roar- 
ing. The  imagery  of  the  mountain,  simply, 
is  somewhat  vari<>'isly  used  in  Scripture. 
"Flee  as  a  bird  to  your  mountain";  "The 
mountiiin  of  the  Lord's  house";  "As  the 
mountains  are  round  about  Jerusalem,  so  the 


Lord  is  round  about  his  people,  from  hence- 
forth, even  forever."  In  such  pas.sages  as 
these  the  symbol  is  plainly  employed  in  a 
good  sense.  But,  upon  the  other  hand,  we 
have  in  the  prophecy  of  Zechariah  (*:  7),  a  use 
of  the  same  imagery  in  a  sense  quite  opposite: 
"Who  art  thou,  O  great  mountain?  Before 
Zerubbabel  thou  shalt  become  a  plain."  A 
passage  in  Jeremiah  (si:  24,25),  similar  in  gen- 
eral efl"ect,  is  strikingly  illustrative  of  this  in 
Revelation:  "I  will  render  unto  Babylon 
and  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  Chaldea  all  their 
evil  that  they  have  done  in  Zion  in  your 
sight,  saith  the  Lord.  Behold,  I  am  against 
thee,  O  destroying  mountain,  saith  the  Lord, 
which  destroyest  all  the  earth ;  and  I  will 
stretch  out  mine  hand  upon  thee,  and  roll 
thee  down  from  the  rocks,  and  will  make  thee 
a  burnt  mountain."  See,  also.  Rev.  10:  20; 
Matt.  17 :  20.  What  the  volcano  is  among 
the  mountains,  such  Babylon,  Egypt,  R(.)me, 
as  heathen  powers  and  nationalities,  have 
been  in  the  world.  The  burning  mountain  is 
an  object  of  awe  and  terror,  rather  than  of 
admiration  and  attraction.  The  cloud  upon 
its  top  is  not  the  harbinger  of  refreshing 
showers,  but  speaks  only  of  the  abj-ss  of  fire 
out  of  which,  in  the  time  of  eruption,  the 
floods  of  devouring  lava  pour.  So  the  power 
which  rules  in  human  aff"airs,  while  it  is  often 
a  deferfce  and  a  blessing,  may  become  mere 
oppression  and  destruction ;  it  may  defend 
and  promote  the  aims  of  God's  kingdom 
among  men;  it  may  hinder,  and,  so  far  as 
permitted,  ruin  and  lay  waste.  Consistently 
with  what  seems  prophetic  usage  in  this  case, 
we  must  regard  the  symbolism  of  the  burn- 
ing mountain  in  our  present  passage  as  being 
of  this  kind.  When  such  a  power  is  itself 
destroyed,  it  is  not  much  unlike  a  burning 
mountain  cast  into  the  sea.  It  is  uprooted 
from  its  place.  It  is  submerged  and  lost 
amidst  the  world's  nationalism  in  general. 
Yet  the  tumult  that  accompanies  the  over- 
throw is  such  as  the  commotion  of  the  sea 
would  be,  were  such  a  vast  body  hurled  into 
it.  By  "the  sea,"  therefore,  we  maj'  under- 
stand national  life  in  general,  sometimes 
organic    and     orderly,    sometimes    anarchic, 


Ch.  VIIL] 


REVELATION. 


121 


9  "And  the  third  part  of  the  creatures  which  were  in 
the  sea,  and  had  lite,  died ;  and  the  third  part  of  the 
ships  were  destroyed. 


9  and  there  died  the  third  part  of  the  creatures  that 
were  in  the  sea,  ereji  they  that  had  lite;  and  the 
third  part  of  the  ships  was  destroyed. 


tempestuous,  and  billowy,  like  the  sea  when 
stirred  to  its  depths.  There  have  been  times, 
in  the  history  of  the  world,  when  the  entire 
scene  of  human  things  was  such  as  this;  and 
usually  it  has  followed  some  great  national 
overthrow,  like  that  which  seems  to  be  here 
described,  when  in  the  passing  away  of  a 
mighty  power  whose  supremacy  has  held  the 
world  in  some  kind  of  subjection,  general 
disruption  and  anarchy  result,  and  genera- 
tions, perhaps,  succeed  before,  in  the  con- 
fusion that  follows,  new  centres  of  such  power 
are  found,  while  about  these  centres  new 
organisms  form,  new  systems  of  nationality 
rule.  And  the  third  part  of  the  sea  be- 
came blood;  and  the  third  part  of  the 
creatures  which  were  in  the  sea,  and 
had  life,  died  ;  and  the  third  part  of  the 
ships  were  destroyed.  "The  third  part 
of  the  creatures  {KTKrjoi<iT(oi/),  they  that  had  life, 
died,"  is  a  better  translation.  This,  it  must 
be  kept  in  mind,  is  still  pure  vision  and  sym- 
bolism, having  its  root,  however,  in  what  is 
pre-eminently  true  to  natural  fact.  If  we 
imagine  such  a  thing  as  a  volcano  cast  into 
the  sea  while  in  raging  eruption,  we  per- 
ceive indeed  how  its  fires  would  in  time  be 
quenched,  and  the  vast  mass  lie  inert,  or  be 
buried  in  the  soundless  depths.  But  before 
this,  its  poisonous  gases  will  have  spread 
death  far  and  wide  through  the  waters,  and 
in  the  commotion  following  its  fall,  ships  will 
be  engulfed  or  cast  as  wrecks  upon  the  shore. 
This  is  the  picture  presented  in  the  symbol- 
ism of  our  passage.  If  we  applj'  the  imagery 
in  those  historical  changes  which  it  clearly 
shadows  forth,  we  cannot  but  feel  its  truthful 
force.  When  a  great  political  power,  like 
Babylon  or  like  Kome,  perishes,  the  immedi- 
ate consequences  are  often  such  as  are  here 
implied.  Who  does  not  recall  the  social 
chaos,  the  moral  anarchy,  the  overflow  of 
every  species  of  poisonous  delusion,  the 
slaughter  and  the  general  misery,  which 
followed  the  destruction  of  the  French  mon- 
archy, resulting  in  the  revolution  so  memora- 
ble in  history  ?  Similar  in  character,  though 
on  a  far  wider  scale,  were  the  events  follow- 
ing the  destruction   of  pagan   Rome.      That 


overthrow  was,  as  every  reader  of  history 
knows,  brought  about  by  an  irruption  of 
barbarian  invaders,  by  which,  in  a  long  series 
of  destructive  wars,  the  various  countries 
embraced  in  the  empire  were  overrun,  cities 
sacked  and  burned,  lives  destroyed  in  myr- 
iads, and  the  very  foundations  of  social  order 
for  a  while  torn  away.  The  imagery  in  our 
passage  represents,  almost  with  the  accuracy 
of  literal  fact,  the  aspect  of  the  whole  Roman 
world,  during  that  long  period  in  which  the 
old  civilization  perished,  and  the  bases  of  the 
new  civilization  were  laid.  In  what  relation 
it  all  stood  to  the  progress  of  God's  spiritual 
kingdojii,  is  evident  at  once.  The  New 
Dispensation  needed  a  new  theatre  for  the 
scene  of  its  development:  a  new  type  of 
humanity,  we  might  say,  in  which  to  carry 
on  its  regenerative  processes.  That  "burning 
mountain,"  old-world  Paganism— concentred 
at  last  in  the  Roman  nationality,  with  its 
fierce  spirit  and  its  oppressive  imperialism — 
whose  poisonous  smoke  had  infected  the 
atmosphere  of  the  whole  world,  and  whose 
lava  floods  threatened  universal  destruction, 
had  to  be  "removed"  and  "cast  into  the 
sea."  The  prayer  of  faith,  as  our  Lord  had 
promised — prayer  made  acceptable  by  that 
incense  of  prevailing  mediation  which  the 
angel  at  the  altar  "added  unto"  it — availed 
to  that  end.  But  such  a  power  could  not, 
and  did  not  pass  away  with  such  quietness  as 
a  cloud  might  sail  across  the  skj'.  It  passed 
away  amidst  commotion  and  destruction, 
precisely  such  as  the  symbolism  in  our  pas- 
sage so  vividly  imports.  Here,  again,  we  do 
not  press  the  phrase,  "tlie  third  part."  Like 
the  whole  passage  where  it  stands,  it  is  sym- 
bolical, and  is  to  be  read  as  importing  wide 
destruction,  yet  a  destruction  'held  by  a 
merciful  providence  within  limits;  Jehovah 
"in  his  wrath"  still  "remembering  mercy." 
As  Alford  expresses  it,  "Though  the  judg- 
ment is,  as  to  extent,  fearful  and  sweeping, 
yet  God,  in  inflicting  it,  spares  more  than  he 
destroys ;  two-thirds  escape,  while  one  is 
smitten." 

10,  11.  The  Third  Trumpet  Sounds. 

10.  And  the  third  angel  sounded,  and 


122 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  VIII. 


10  Aud  the  third  angel  sounded,  "and  there  fell  a 
great  star  from  heaven,  burning  as  it  were  a  lamp, '  and 
It  fell  upon  the  third  part  of  the  rivers,  and  upon  the 
fountains  of  waters ; 

11  <^Aiid  the  name  of  the  star  is  called  Wormwood : 
"'and  the  third  part  of  the  waters  became  wormwood; 
and  many  men  died  of  the  waters,  because  they  were 
made  bitter. 


10  And  the  third  angel  sounded,  and  there  fell  from 
heaven  a  great  star,  burning  as  a  torch,  and  it  fell 
upon  the  third  part  of  the  rivers,  and  upon  the  foun- 

11  tains  of  the  waters ;  and  the  name  of  the  star  is  called 
Wormwood:  and  the  third  part  of  the  waters  be- 
came wormwood ;  and  many  men  died  of  the  waters, 
because  they  were  made  bitter. 


alsa.  14:  12;  ch.9:  1 b  ch.  16:  4.... c  Ruth  1 :  20...  d  Ex.  15:23;  Jer.  9:  15;  23:  15. 


there  fell  a  great  star  from  heaven,  burn- 
ing as  it  were  a  lamp.  The  revisers  prefer 
to  translate  the  Greek,  Uunpas,  as  "torch." 
It  is  a  sense  more  in  harmony  with  the  idea 
of  a  falling  and  blazing  star.  The  transla- 
tion, "lamp,"  however,  might  well  be  re- 
tained if  it  be  kept  in  mind  what  the  ancient 
lamp  was — a  dish  partly  open,  filled  with  oil, 
with  a  large  wick  projecting  from  one  side. 
Such  a  lamp  would  very  nearly  be  our  pres- 
ent idea  of  a  torch,  and  we  may  accordingly 
regard  the  two  ideas,  of  a  lamp  and  a  torch, 
as  combined  in  the  symbol.  At  the  outset  of 
the  visions  in  this  book,  the  "star"  is  used  as 
a  symbol  of  the  teacher  of  the  divine  word. 
In  the  Lord's  right  hand,  in  his  first  appear- 
ance to  John,  were  "seven  stars,"  and  these 
stars  were  "the  angels  of  the  seven  churches." 
This  may  to  some  extent  be  a  guide  to  us  in 
the  interpretation  of  the  same  symbol  wher- 
ever employed,  as  such,  in  the  book.  At  all 
events,  it  is  more  in  keeping  than  any  other 
with  the  Apocalyptic  usage,  to  give  it  such  a 
meaning  in  this  place.  A  like  usage  is  found 
elsewhere  in  Scripture.  In  Daniel  (12 : 3),  it 
is  said,  "They  that  turn  many  to  righteous- 
ness" shall  shine  "as  the  stars,  forever  and 
ever"  ;  and  in  Jude,  as  descriptive  of  a  char- 
acter quite  opposite,  we  read  of  "wandering 
stars,  to  whom  is  reserved  the  blackness  of 
darkness."  It  is  not  necessary,  however — to 
take  the  star  in  our  present  passage  as  indi- 
cating a  specific  person — as  Arius  or  Pelagius, 
or  any  other  one  of  the  heresiarchs  whom 
history  names.  It  is  more  consistent  with 
the  usage  of  the  book  to  treat  it  as  indicating 
a  personification,  rather  than  a  person,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  beast,  the  woman  drunk  with 
the  blood  of  saints,  and  others.  The  most 
natural  view  of  the  symbol  is  to  take  it  as 
representing  a  sj-stem,  or  an  organism,  either 
charged  with,  or  having  assumed  the  duty  of, 
sjiiritual  teaching;  or  perhaps  the  conil)ina- 
tion  and  society  of  such  teachers,  so  personi- 
fied as  to  have  a  figurative  individuality,  and 
here  represented  by  the  star.     The  imagery 


under  the  third  trumpet  is  thus  in  keeping 
with  that  under  the  second.  The  mountain 
cast  into  the  sea,  represents  the  overthrow  of 
that  pagan  supremacy  which  had  so  long 
ruled  the  world  from  the  seat  of  political 
power.  Under  the  third  trumpet  we  have 
that  higher  sphere  of  things  e.xhibited,  the 
spiritual  and  heavenly,  represented  under  the 
symbol  of  the  firmament  where  the  stars  that 
give  light  move  and  shine.  One  of  these  falls 
from  that  sphere,  and,  ceasing  to  be  a  light 
and  a  beneficence,  becomes  an  element  of 
darkness  and  destruction.  The  natural  in- 
terpretation of  it,  and  one  in  keeping  with 
imagery  occurring  in  the  connection,  is  to 
view  it  as  an  apostasy,  and  that  not  of  a  single 
individual,  but  of  some  power  or  combina- 
tion in  which  the  disastrous  change  appears. 
From  a  star  giving  light  from  the  firmament, 
it  changes  to  a  torch  falling  upon  the  earth,  a 
blight  and  a  destruction. — And  it  fell  upon 
the  third  part  of  the  rivers,  and  upon  the 
fountains  of  waters.  This,  too.  must  of 
course  be  treated  as  imagery,  and,  consistently 
with  Scripture  usage  in  general,  must  denote 
the  sources  and  streams  of  spiritual  life  and 
refreshment,  such  as  are  provided  in  insti- 
tuted means  of  grace. 

11.  And  the  name  of  the  star  is  called 
Wormwood.  In  Jeremiah  23:  15,  we  read: 
"Therefore,  thus  saith  the  Lord  concerning 
the  prophets,  Behold,  I  will  feed  them  with 
wormwood,  and  make  them  drink  the  water 
of  gall ;  for  from  the  prophets  of  Jerusalem 
is  profaneness  gone  forth  into  all  the  land." 
In  Amos  (5: 7),  they  are  denounced  and  warned 
who  "  turn  judgment  to  wormwood,  and  leave 
oflT  righteousness  in  the  earth."  And  again, 
(B:i2):  "  Ye  have  turned  judgment  into  gall, 
and  the  fruit  of  righteousness  into  hemlock." 
Moses  says,  in  warning  the  children  of  Israel 
against  idolatry  (neut.29:  is);  "Take  heed  lest 
ther(!  should  be  amongyou  a  root  that  beareth 
gall  and  wormwood."  And  it  is  in  a  like 
allusion  that  Paul  says  (Heb.  12:  ts):  "Look  dili- 
gently lest  any  man  fail  of  the  grace  of  God; 


Ch.  VIII.] 


REVELATION. 


123 


12  "And  the  fourth  angel  sounded,  and  the  third 
part  of  the  sun  was  smitten,  and  the  third  part  of  the 
luoon,  and  the  tliird  part  of  tlie  stars;  so  as  the  third 
part  of  them  was  darkened,  and  tlie  day  shone  not  for 
a  third  part  of  it,  and  tlie  night  likewise. 

13  And  I  beheld,  'and  heard  an  angel  flying  through 
the  midst  of  heaven,  saying  with  a  loud  voice,  '  Woe, 
woe,  woe,  to  the  inhabiters  of  the  earth  by  reason  of 
the  other  voices'  of  the  trumpet  of  the  three  angels, 
which  are  yet  to  sound ! 


12  And  the  fourth  angel  sounded,  and  the  third  part 
of  the  sun  was  smitten,  and  the  third  part  of  the 
moon,  and  the  third  part  of  the  stars;  tliat  the  third 
part  of  them  should  be  darkened,  and  the  day  should 
not  shine  for  the  third  part  of  it,  and  the  night  in 
like  manner. 

13  And  I  saw,  and  I  heard  i  an  eagle,  flying  in  mid 
heaven,  saying  with  a  great  voice.  Woe,  woe,  woe, 
for  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth,  by  reason  of  the 
other  voices  of  the  trumpet  of  the  three  angels,  who 
are  yet  to  sound. 


ilsa.  U:  10;  Amos  8:  9.... 6  oh.  14:6;  19:  17....cch.9:  12  ;  11 :  14. 1  Gr.  one  eagle. 


lest  any  root  of  bitterness,  springing  up, 
trouble  you,  and  thereby  many  be  defiled." 
"With  these  illu.strative  passages  be'fore  us,  it 
need  not  be  difficult  for  us  to  interpret  the 
name  of  this  fallen  star,  or  to  understand  the 
historical  allusion.  It  is  apostasy  which  we 
have  thus  before  us,  resulting  in  defilement, 
and  changing  what  were  intended  for  waters 
of  life  into  bitterness  and  poison ;  the  very 
fountains  of  such  being  thus  corrupted  ;  "the 
wells  poisoned." — And  the  third  part  of 
the  waters  became  wormwood.  The 
phrase  "third  part"  must  be  taken  here  as  in 
the  instances  noticed  before. — And  many 
men  died  of  the  waters,  because  they 
were  made  bitter.  It  is  spiritual  life  that 
is  thus  destroyed;  that  life  which  the  water 
of  life  in  the  gospel  is  intended  to  nourish  and 
refresh.  AVhen  the  truth  of  that  gospel  is 
corrupted  by  false  teaching  into  bitterness 
and  poison,  the  souls  of  men  drink  of  it,  and 
perish.  It  is  clear,  now,  that  this  whole  de- 
scription may  apply  to  false  teaching  of  all 
kinds;  and  the  symbolism  of  the  third  trum- 
pet may  thus  be  capable  of  such  expansion 
as  to  cover  all  the  forms  of  such  in  the  various 
ages  of  Christian  history.  Pre-eminently, 
however,  it  applies  to  that  concentration  of 
all  the  worst  heresies  ever  invented — and  di- 
rectly or  indirectly  the  source  of  even  the  in- 
fidelities that  have  cursed  the  world — the 
Papacy,  the  Man  of  Sin;  itself  a  "mystery 
of  iniquity,"  wormwood  and  death  to  the 
nations. 

12.  The  Fourth  Trumpet  Sounds.  And 
the  fourth  angel  sounded,  and  the  third 
part  of  the  sun  was  smitten,  and  the 
third  part  of  the  moon,  and  the  third 
part  of  the  stars  ;  so  as  the  third  part  of 
them  was  darkened,  and  the  day  shone 
not  for  a  third  part  of  it,  and  the  night 
likewise.  The  view  is  again  directed  to  the 
firmament,  from  wliich  the  blazing  star  fell. 
What  the  symbolism  implies  is  failure  and 


dimness  in  the  spheres  from  which  spiritual 
light  descends  to  the  world;  not  that  highest 
heaven  where  God  is,  but  that  lower  one 
represented  by  his  church,  ordained  as  "the 
light  of  the  world,"  as  our  Lord  has  said. 
The  events  under  this  fourth  trumpet  ap- 
pear to  synchronize  and  accompany  those 
under  the  third.  In  that  firmament  from 
which  the  star  fell,  other  ominous  changes 
occur.  As  a  matter  of  history  we  know,  that 
accompanying  that  great  apostasy,  the  Papacy 
in  its  final  development,  there  was  not  only  a 
general  corruption  of  Christian  doctrine;  but 
such  perversion  and  misuse  of  all  means  of 
spiritual  provision,  as  to  leave  the  wide 
nations  under  papal  rule  in  a  condition  to 
perish  for  lack  of  knowledge.  That  period 
which  goes  in  history  by  the  name  of  "the 
Dark  Ages,"  might  not  inaptly  be  viewed  as 
represented  by  this  failure  in  the  lights  of 
heaven.  Such  a  shadow  as  this  imagery 
imports  then  fell  on  the  earth.  That  period, 
too,  we  must  remember,  fills  a  great  place  in 
the  general  scheme  of  Cod's  dispensations. 
"It  is  through  seasons  such  as  these,"  says 
Ellicott,  "when  the  lights  of  human  wisdom 
and  spiritual  guidance  seem  alike  obscured, 
that  the  church  must  go  forward.  The  chaos 
precedes  creation,  and  it  is  through  chaos 
again  that  the  Church  of  Christ  must  pass 
to  the  new  heaven  and  the  new  earth.  These 
trumpet-visions,  if  read  by  the  side  of  the 
glory  of  Genesis,  seem  like  the  undoing  of 
creation ;  the  vegetation  is  smitten,  the  earth 
and  sea  are  intermingled,  the  lights  of  the 
heavens  are  darkened,  the  living  things  in 
seas  and  streams  are  destroyed ,  but — 

Further  life  the  world  shall  draw 
From  their  decay." 

"  The  pulling  down  must  precede  the  build- 
ing; the  removing  of  the  degenerate  is  one 
step  in  the  way  of  regeneration." 

13.    The    Three   Woe    Trumpets    An- 


124 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  VIII. 


NOUNCED.  And  I  beheld,  and  heard  an 
angel  flying  through  the  midst  of  heaven. 

The  Sinaitic  and  Alexandrine  manuscripts 
read  "eagle,"  instead  of  "angel."  This  read- 
ing is  adopted,  it  will  be  seen,  by  the  revisers, 
and  being  sustained  by  such  manuscript  au- 
thority as  that  just  named,  is  no  doubt  to  be 
preferred.  Some,  as  Carpenter,  in  EUicott, 
translate  "one"  (ei'os),  or  "a  single  eagle." 
The  Greek  word,  however,  in  this  and  some 
other  places  in  the  New  Testament,  seems  to 
have  little  more  force  than  our  indefinite 
article.  Compare  also,  the  translation,  in 
usage  of  the  Latin  word  unus,  signifying 
"one,"  to  the  modern  indefinite  article, 
ItiiVian,  uno,  una ;  French  U7i,  une ;  English  a, 
or  an.  The  eagle  thus  flying  through  "the 
meridian  sky,"  and  "visible  to  the  very 
horizon,  is,"  as  Carpenter  says,  "an  appro- 
priate emblem;  high-soaring  as  the  spirit  of 
the  seer,  the  eagle-glance  scanned  the  borders 
of  the  earth,  and  caught  sight  of  the  coming 
troubles,  and  gave  warning,  swift  and  strong 
as  the  judgments  of  God,  its  very  form  gave 
emphasis  to  the  warnings  of  its  voice."  — 
Saying,  with  a  loud  voice.  Woe,  woe, 
w^oe,  to  the  inhabiters  of  the  earth,  by 
reason  of  the  other  voices  of  the  trumpet 
of  the  three  angels,  which  are  yet  to 
sound.  Because  thus  announced,  the  re- 
maining three  trumpets  are  commonly  called 
"the  Woe  Trumpets."  The  announcement 
implies  that  the  evils  about  to  be  visited  upon 
the  earth,  exceed  in  magnitude  even  those 
already  described,  and  that  in  view  of  what 
is  now  soon  to  occur,  the  world's  inhabitants 
have  especial  reason  to  tremble  and  be  in 
dread.  What  this  imports  must  be  left,  till 
we  come  to  study  these  three  "Woe  Trum- 
pets" themselves. 

GENERAL  COMMENTS. 

There  are  two  extremes,  toward  one  or  the 
other  of  which  most  writers  upon  the  Apoca- 
lypse seem  to  us  to  lean.  One  is  that  of  his- 
torical literalism,  carried  sometimes  into  great 
detail;  an  attempt  to  find  some  liistcjrical 
personage  or  event  corresponding  with  each 
more  marked  feature  of  the  vision,  and  set 
down  with  the  chronological  exactness  of  the 
history  itself.  To  take  an  examj)le — Elliott, 
in  "//o?'«'  Apncah/pticrp,"  understands  by  the 
four  trumpets  we  have  been  considering,  the 
four  Gothic  invasions  of  the  Roman  Empire, 


resulting  in  the  dissolution  of  that  empire, 
and  the  forming  of  new  nationalities.  The 
first  (a.  d.  400^153)  is  that  under  Alaric  and 
Radagaisus:  the  second  (429-477)  that  of  Gen- 
seric;  the  third  (450-453)  that  of  Attila;  the 
fourth,  the  final  overthrow  of  the  empire, 
and  the  establishment  of  the  new  kingdom 
of  Italy  under  Odoacer  (a.  d.  476).  By  like 
methods,  Elliott,  Barnes,  and  others  find  for 
leading  features  in  the  several  visions  through- 
out the  book  historical  correspondences,  many 
of  which  severely  tax  their  invention,  and  all 
of  which  are  open  to  the  objection  that  others 
might  be  selected  which  would  answer  the 
purpose  just  as  well.  It  is,  in  our  opinion, 
utterly  impossible,  upon  this  plan,  to  arrive 
at  results  in  Apocalyptic  study  that  will 
command  general  assent,  or  be  of  any  real 
help  to  readers  of  the  book. 

The  other  method,  verging  toward  an  op- 
posite extreme,  is  that  of  Alford  and  Carpen- 
ter, though  as  used  by  these  two  expositors, 
diftering  in  special  features  and  ditlerently 
applied.  This  is  to  treat  the  visions  as  having 
no  definite  historical  7neani}ig,  or  application, 
but  pictures  in  general  of  the  conflict  of 
spiritual  and  worldly,  divine  and  devilish, 
forces  in  the  centuries  of  Christian  history, 
with  the  judgments  visited  upon  the  enemies 
of  the  truth  and  of  God.  Alford  considers 
that  the  coming  of  the  Lord  in  his  second 
advent  is  the  idea  kept  before  us  in  this  whole 
series  of  visions,  from  the  beginning  to  the 
end  of  the  book,  and  that  the  scenes  depicted 
simply  represent  to  us  the  operation  of  those 
providences  through  which  that  coming  of 
the  Lord  is  prepared.  Carpenter  is  more 
general  still,  in  his  view.  These  pictures 
present  to  us,  as  he  thinks,  the  clash  and 
collision  of  great  principles  and  forces,  in  a 
general  field  of  operation,  with  results  re- 
peating themselves  more  or  less  from  one 
historical  perii>d  to  another,  their  symbolism 
fulfilled  in  those  great  moral  changes  which 
transpire  in  the  course  of  Christian  history. 
There  is  in  each  form  of  this  method  of  inter- 
pretation an  inadequacy,  of  which  the  reader 
becomes  almost  jiainfully  conscious  as  he  pro- 
ceeds. The  successive  visions — for  example, 
under  these  four  trumjiets  as  explained  by 
Carpenter  —  seem  almost  like  repetitions  of 
the  same  general  facts  in  human  experience. 
Under  each  trumpet  it  is  false  religion,  with 
the  moral  forces  proceeding  from  it,  in  con- 


Ch.  VIIL] 


KEVELATION. 


125 


flict  with  true  religion,  the  latter  prevailing, 
because  God  is  on  its  side.  Carpenter  will 
allow  us  to  see,  in  certain  specific  historical 
events,  illustrations  of  the  general  fact  he 
draws  from  the  successive  pictures  as  they 
appear,  and  sometimes  it  seems  as  if  he  were 
willing  that  something  specific,  distinct,  and 
historically  definite  shall  be  found  permis- 
sible. Upon  the  whole,  the  reader  feels  that 
the  questions  he  mainly  asks  himself,  as  he 
reads  the  words  of  the  book  so  expounded, 
remain  after  all  unanswered. 

There  seems,  really,  to  be  no  good  reason 
why,  because  one  of  these  extremes  is  rejected, 
the  other  should  be  chosen.  The  great  epochs 
in  history  may,  it  appears  to  us,  be  signal 
lights  in  the  interpretation  of  prophecy.  This 
is  certainly  the  case  with  the  prophecies  of 
the  Old  Testament;  why  not  in  those  of  the 
New  ?  Epochal  changes  are  the  proper  sub- 
jects of  prophecy.  Historical  minutiae,  like 
those  traced  out  by  the  school  of  interpreters 
to  which  Elliott  and  Barnes  belong,  are  rarely 
so  used ;  and  if  used  at  all,  it  is  because  of  the 
important  bearing  they  individually  have 
upon  the  fortunes  of  God's  kingdom,  or  their 
immediate  concern  with  the  history  of  his 
people.  Such  as  these  are  exceptional.  It  is 
by  the  great  beaconal  epochs  that  we  must 
find  our  way,  in  the  work  of  Apocalyptic  in- 
terpretation. In  the  book  we  study,  a  vast 
stretch  of  time  is  covered.  Almost  two  thou- 
sand years  of  it  have  already  passed.  How 
many  other  thousand  years  are  yet  to  come, 
none  of  us  can  tell.  We  cannot,  upon  the 
one  hand,  believe  that  the  prophecy  in  this 
book  concerns  itself  with  subordinate  inci- 
dents of  the  history  in  any  part  of  it;  neither 
upon  the  other  hand,  can  we  believe  that 
there  is  to  be  nothing  historically  specific  in 
the  results  we  gain  from  our  study.  We 
therefore  prefer  the  medium  course,  and  in 
the  view  we  take  try  to  equally  avoid  both 
extremes. 

It  is  clear  that  the  seven  trumpets,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  seven  seals,  we  are  to  treat  as  in 
groups  of  four  and  three.  There  is  a  princi- 
ple of  resemblance  in  the  four  first  trumpets 
as  in  the  four  first  seals.  What  this  is  in  the 
latter  case  we  have  already  seen.  The  word 
"  Come"  supplies  it.  In  the  case  of  the  trum- 
pets, the  principle  of  mutual  resemblance  is, 
that  in  the  first  group  providential  events  oc- 
curring in  the  world  of  men  are  represented 


under  the  imagery  of  miraculous  phenomena 
in  the  world  of  inanimate  nature,  felt  by  men 
in  their  eflfects.  In  the  three  following  trum- 
pets, as  will  be  seen,  a  diflTerent  class  of  agen- 
cies is  employed,  while  the  vision  under  each 
is  far  richer  in  scenery,  and  in  the  number  of 
symbolical  figures  and  events  introduced. 

It  will  be  seen  in  the  study  of  the  three 
trumpets  yet  to  come,  that  we  regard  them  as 
covering  a  far  more  extended  period  of  time 
than  in  the  case  of  the  seals.  With  this  ex- 
ception— that,  as  already  explained,  we  view 
the  sixth  and  seventh  seals  as  exhibiting  in 
general  the  final  fruits  of  the  redemptive 
work,  and  so  far  as  this,  reaching  on  to  the 
time  of  the  end.  The  trumpets,  however, 
especially  the  last  three,  deal  more  in  detail 
with  that  long  interval  which  the  visions 
under  the  seals  appear  thus  to  leap  over.  The 
seals  show  how,  through  all  that  opposes, 
hinders,  and  sometimes  almost  seems  to  de- 
feat, covenant  grace  achieves  its  end.  The 
trumpets  exhibit  to  us  the  kingdom  of  God 
in  the  great  epochs  of  its  exterior  history,  its 
direct  and  outward  contact  with  the  world 
as  an  organism  in  contact  and  collision  with 
other  organisms.  The  trumpet-call,  in  each 
case,  is  as  when  Israel  of  old  assembled  at  the 
sound  of  the  trumpet  to  face  some  great  crisis 
in  its  own  history.  So  it  is  here;  and  it  is 
these  crises  which  we  see  depicted  in  the 
scenery  of  the  several  visions.  That  the  view 
so  presented  may  be  comprehensive  of  the 
whole  history,  the  series  begins  at  the  opening 
of  that  history,  as  is  the  case  also  with  the 
seals,  while  the  numerical  symbol  seven  shows 
that,  alike  as  beginning  and  ending,  the  series 
is  complete.  To  a  certain  extent,  therefore, 
there  is  a  repetition  under  the  trumpets,  of 
what  appeared  under  the  seals;  though,  upon 
the  whole,  the  diflferences  are  sq  great  that 
they  are  far  from  being  the  same. 

The  reader  will  perceive,  then,  that  we  re- 
gard each  of  the  septenary  series  of  visions  as 
consecutive,  in  the  sense  that  they  follow  the 
order  of  those  great  epochal  crises  of  which 
history  supplies  a  record  so  distinct,  and  as 
complete,  reaching  in  each  case  from  the 
beginning  to  a  fixed  point  of  consummation, 
though  with  a  difference  as  to  the  measure  of 
detail  involved.  The  grand  significance  of 
each  is  made  strikingly  apparent  at  its  close. 
The  seals  end  in  the  peace  and  rest  of  heaven 
—redemption  accomplished.      The  trumpets 


126 


REVELATION. 


Ch.  IX. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


AND  the  fifth  angel  sounded,  "and  I  saw  a  star  fall 
from  heaven  uuto  the  earth  :  and  to  hiiu  was  given 
the  key  of  '  the  bottomless  pit. 

2  And  he  opened  the  bottomless  pit;  "and  there 
arose  a  smoke  out  of  the  pit,  as  the  smoke  of  a  great 
furnace;  and  the  sun  and  the  air  were  darkened  by 
reason  of  the  stuoke  of  the  pit. 


1  And  the  fifth  angel  sounded,  and  I  saw  a  star  from 
heaven  fall  unto  the  earth:  and  there  was  given  to 

2  him  the  key  of  the  pit  of  the  abyss.  And  he  opened 
the  pit  of  the  abyss;  and  there  went  up  a  smoke  out 
of  the  pit,  as  the  smoke  of  a  great  furnace;  and  the 
sun  and  the  air  were  darkened  by  reason  of  the 


a  Luke  10: 18;  ch.  8:10....b  Luke  8:  31;  cb.  17:8;  20:1;  ver.  2: 11 c  Joel  2:  2, 10. 


end  with  the  kingdom  of  the  world  become 
the  kingdom  of  our  Lord,  and  of  his  Christ 
— victory  achieved. 


SOUNDING   OF    THE    FIFTH   AND 
SIXTH    TRUMPETS. 

1-12.  The  Fifth  Trumpet  Sounds. 

1.  And  the  fifth  angel  sounded,  and  I 
saw  a  great  star  fall  from  heaven  unto 
the  earth.  The  word  for  "fall,"  here,  (»r«jr- 
TwKOTa)  is  the  participle  of  the  perfect,  and  its 
English  equivalent  would  be,  ^'having  fallen,''' 
or  ^^ which  had  fallen."  The  meaning,  then, 
is  "a  star  which  had  fallen  from  heaven  unto 
the  earth."  The  case  is  not  as  in  that  of  the 
sounding  of  the  third  trumpet,  when  John 
saw  a  star  in  the  act  of  falling;  what  he  sees 
now  is  a  fallen  star  on  the  earth — the  titne  of 
the  fall  being  in  no  way  indicated. — And  to 
him  was  given  the  key  of  the  bottom- 
less pit.  More  literally,  "the  key  of  the 
pit  of  the  abyss."  The  same  word  (d^uo-aos), 
abyss,  is  used  at  ch.  17 :  8,  where  we  are 
told  that  "the  Beast"  ascends  out  of  the 
abyss.  Also  in  20 :  3,  we  read  how  Satan  is 
bound  and  cast  into  the  abyss.  The  evil 
spirits  driven  out  of  the  demoniac,  as  de- 
scribed in  Luke  8:  31,  prayed  that  they  might 
not  be  sent  into  the  deep — the  same  word  as 
here.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  all  the.'ie 
places,  as  in  our  present  text,  the  pit  of  hell 
is  meant.  A.s  to  the  fallen  star,  we  find  it  in 
ver.  11  of  this  chapter  indicated  as  a  person, 
of  whom  it  is  said  that  his  name  in  the 
Hebrew  is  Abaddon,  "Destruction,"  "Perdi- 
tion," and  in  the  Greek,  Apollyon,  "De- 
stroyer." All  these  indications  suggest  that 
the  fallen  star,  here,  is  none  other  than  Satan, 
whom  our  Lord  declares  that  he  saw  "as 
lightning,  fall  from  heaven,"  and  whom 
Isaiah  (u:i-.>)  seems  to  apostrophize  when  he 
says:  "How  art  thou  fallen  from  heaven,  0 
Lucifer,  son  of  the  morning!"  Identifying 
the  star  thus,  we  recognize  the  agency  de- 
scribed under  this  fifth  trumpet  as  Satanic, 


and  the  eifects  of  it  are  to  be  understood  ac- 
cordingly. In  his  command  over  all  such 
agencies,  Satan  has  "the  key  of  the  pit  of  the 
abyss." 

'i.  And  he  opened  the  bottomless  pit 
[lit.,  the  pit  of  the  abyss].  The  Sinaitic 
manuscript  omits  this;  but  other  ancient 
manuscripts  retain  it,  and  we  observe,  ac- 
cordingly, that  the  revision  makes  no  change 
here. — And  there  arose  a  smoke  out  of 
the  pit,  as  the  smoke  of  a  great  furnace, 
and  the  sun  and  the  air  were  darkened 
by  reason  of  the  smoke  out  of  the  pit. 
Here  we  have  the  first  eflfect  of  the  Satanic 
agency  described.  Under  the  fourth  trumpet 
occurs  what  seems  in  some  respects  similar; 
the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  are  "smitten,"  and 
"the  third  part  of  them  was  darkened,"  so 
that  "the  day  shone  not  for  the  third  part  of 
it,  and  the  night  likewise."  The  eflfect  so 
described,  as  we  have  seen  above,  proceeds 
from  a  failure  in  the  ordained  luminaries  to 
give  light  as  was  appointed  them  ;  or,  apply- 
ing the  imagery,  a  failure  in  fidelity  on  the 
part  of  those  whose  oflSce  it  especially  is  to 
serve  as  "the  light  of  the  world."  In  the 
present  case,  the  darkness  is  directly  caused 
by  Satanic  agency.  Out  of  the  pit  an  in- 
fluence proceeds,  sj-mbolized  in  vision  by 
"the  smoke,"  the  first  eflfect  of  which  is  to 
.still  further  obscure  a,nd  darken,  "the  air" 
being  filled  with  the  black  and  poisonous 
smoke,  and  the  very  "sun"  shut  from  view. 
Associating,  thus,  what  appears  under  these 
two  trumpets — the  fourth  and  the  fifth — we 
observe  two  causes,  difterently  originated, 
operating  to  a  like  end.  Under  the  one 
trumpet  the  world  is  darkened  through  the 
failure  of  the  ordained  lights  of  heaven  to 
shine  in  their  due  measure;  under  the  other, 
an  obsuring  darkness  ascends  out  of  the  pit 
itself.  Satanic  malice  unites  itself  with  hu- 
man unfaithfulness,  and  as  the  result  of  these 
two  causes  combined,  "darkness  covers  the 
earth,  and  gross  darkness  the  people." 


Ch.  IX.] 


REVELATION. 


127 


3  And  there  came  out  of  the  smoke  "locusts  upon  the 
earth:  and  unto  them  was  given  power,  'as  the  scor- 
pions of  the  earth  have  power. 

4  And  it  was  commanded  them  "that  they  should  not 
hurt  •'the  grass  of  the  earth,  neither  any  green  thing, 
neither  any  tree;  but  only  those  men  which  have  not 
«the  seal  of'  (iod  in  their  foreheads. 

5  And  to  them  it  was  given  that  they  should  not  kill 
them, /hut  that  they  should  be  tormented  tive  mouths: 
and  their  torment  was  as  the  torment  of  a  scorpion, 
when  he  striketh  a  man. 


3  smoke  of  the  pit.  And  out  of  the  smoke  came  forth 
locusts  upon  the  earth;  and  power  was  given  them, 

4  as  the  scorpions  of  the  earth  have  power.  And  it 
was  said  unto  them  that  they  should  not  hurt  the 
grass  of  the  earth,  neither  any  green  thing,  neither 
any  tree,  but  only  such  men  as  have  not  the  seal  of 

5  (iod  on  their  foreheads.  And  it  was  given  them 
that  they  should  not  kill  them,  but  that  they  should 
be  tormented  five  months:  and  their  torment  was 
as  the  torment  of  a  scorpion,  when  it  striketh  a 


1  Ex.  10:4;  Judg.  7 :  12....i  ver.  10....C  ch.  6:  6;  7 :  3....(ich.  8 ;  7....e  ch.  7:  3 ;  see  Ex.  12:  23;  Esek.  9:  4...../ver.  10;  ch..ll:  7. 


3.  And  there  came  out  of  the  smoke 
locusts  upon  the  earth.  Scarcely  any 
point  in  Apocalyptic  interpretation  has  occa- 
sioned more  difficulty,  than  the  identification 
of  these  "locusts."  Perhaps  writers  have 
been  disposed  to  seek  too  far  for  the  key  to 
the  solution.  By  those  who  hold  by  a  strictly 
historical  theory,  they  have  been  variously 
taken  as  symbolizing  the  Vandals,  the  Goths, 
the  Mohammedans,  the  Jewish  zealots;  by 
others,  as  throngs  of  raging  heretics;  by 
others,  the  pope  as  the  fallen  star,  and  his 
monks  as  the  locusts.  It  seems  singular  that 
it  should  not  have  at  once  occurred  to  these 
writers,  that  as  the  "fallen  star"  is  so  evi- 
dently Satan  himself,  and  as  the  "locusts" 
come  out  of  the  "smoke,"  and  the  "smoke" 
out  of  the  "pit,"  the  whole  representation 
must  be  regarded  as  Satanic  in  character,  and 
as  introducing  the  human  element  rather  as 
the  object  than  the  agent  of  the  effects  de- 
scribed. This,  too,  is  implied  in  what  follows. 
— And  unto  them  was  given  power,  as 
the  scorpions  of  the  earth  have  power. 
The  very  phrase,  "scorpions  of  the  earth," 
points  toward  what  we  have  suggested.  It 
does  not  mean  "land-scorpions,"  as  some 
appear  to  suppose ;  but  simply  means  such 
scorpions  as  are  found  in  the  earth,  or  real 
scorpions.  These  locusts,  born  in  the  pit,  and 
carried  over  the  world  in  the  wide-spreading 
smoke,  sting  and  poison,  as  do  "the  scorpions 
of  the  earth."  The  same  general  suggestion 
is  given  us  in  the  verse  that  comes  next. 

4.  And  it  was  commanded  them  that 
they  should  not  hurt  the  grass  of  the 
earth,  neither  any  green  thing,  neither 
any  tree.  That  is  to  say,  the  locusts  here 
described  do  not  act  as  real  locusts ;  they  do 
not  destroy  vegetation ;  they  have  a  special 
mission,  consistent  with  their  nature.  They 
are  to  hurt  men;  yet  only  those  which  have 
not  the  seal  of  God  in  [upon]  their  fore- 
heads.    These  locusts,  like  the   natural   lo- 


custs, prey  upon  that  which  it  is  their  nature 
to  seek.  The  natural  locust  seeks  every 
"green  thing"  within  reach;  lives  upon  it, 
destroys  it.  The  locusts  from  the  pit,  seek 
those  human  beings  whose  unregenerate  and 
evil  nature  invites  attack  ;  such  as  "  have  not 
the  seal  of  God  in  their  foreheads."  This 
points  us  back  to  7:3,  where  those  agencies 
which  had  been  appointed  as  instruments  of 
divine  judgment  are  commanded  to  delay 
their  action  "  till  we  have  sealed  the  servants 
of  our  God  in  their  foreheads";  by  which, 
as  already  explained,  is  simply  signified  the 
general  fact  of  God's  care  for  his  own  people. 
"Sealed  with  that  Holy  Spirit  of  promise," 
the  Spirit  of  regeneration,  with  outward  signs 
in  godly  living  which  di.sclose  to  the  world 
their  "calling  and  election,"  they  are  thence- 
forth objects  of  divine  care;  and  however 
"tribulation"  may  still  be  their  lot,  this  is 
not,  as  in  the  case  of  the  godless,  meant  for 
judgment  and  punishment;  it  is  the  trial  of 
faith,  rather,  or  opportunity  given  for  bearing 
testimony;  or  "chastenings,"  which,  though 
at  present  "not  joyous,  but  grievous,  never- 
theless afterwards  yield  the  peaceable  fruits 
of  righteousness"  (Heb.  12:11).  In  our  present 
passage  the  sealed  ones  are  seen  as  thus 
shielded.  The  "plague"  of  the  locusts  does 
not  reach  them.  Whatever  it  may  be,  it  is 
such  in  its  nature  as  that  the  "servants  of  our 
God"  do  not  feel  it.  We  seem,  by  this,  war- 
ranted in  concluding  that  the  visitation  of 
locusts  is  not  to  be  understood  as  barbaric  or 
Saracenic  invasion,  nor  as  the  persecution  by 
popes  and  monks,  nor  any  other  of  those  evils 
which  fall  more  or  less  upon  all  men  alike,  or 
which  even,  perhaps,  rather  single  out  than 
avoid  the  followers  of  Christ. 

5.  And  to  them  it  was  given  that  they 
should  not  kill  them.  "Them"  is  the 
most  critical  reading,  referring  to  men  in  the 
previous  verse.  Here  is  a  further  indication 
that  by  the  locusts  cannot  be  meant  Goths,  or 


128 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  IX. 


6  And  in  those  days  "shall  men  seek  death,  and  shall 
not  find  it;  and  shall  desire  to  die,  and  death  shall  flee 
from  them. 

7  And  'the  shapes  of  the  locusts  were  like  unto  horses 
prepared  unto  battle;  "and  on  their  heads  were  as  it 
were  crowns  like  gold,  and  their  faces  were  as  the  faces 
of  meu. 


6  man.  And  in  those  days  men  shall  seek  death,  and 
shall  in  no  wise  find  it;  and  they  shall  desire  to  die, 

7  and  death  fieeth  from  them.  And  the  'shapes  of 
the  locusts  were  like  unto  horses  prepared  lor  war; 
and  upon  their  heads  as  it  were  crowns  like  unto 


a  Job  3:  21 ;  Isa.  2  :  19  ;  Jer.  8:3  ;  ch.  6  :  16 6  Joel  2:4 c  Nah.  3:  17 d  Dan.  7:  8. 1  Gr.  liTiene»>»>. 


Vandals,  or  Mohammedans,  or  destructive 
human  beings  of  any  sort.  Such,  in  their  in- 
roads and  ravages,  do  "kill  men."  These 
locusts  are  not  to  "kill."— But  that  they 
should  be  tormented  five  months.  The 
subject  of  the  verb  changes  here,  in  an  abrupt 
manner.  It  is  the  "men"  who  shall  be  tor- 
mented. "Five  months"  is  the  usual  time 
during  which  locusts  continue  their  ravages. 
This  time  is  mentioned  here  simply  to  carry 
out  the  symbolism.  Or  perhaps  we  may  say 
that  as  the  natural  locust  has  its  period,  so  also 
has  this  locust  in  the  vision.  The  visitation 
will  have  its  course,  as  is  the  case  when  a 
region  of  country  is  overrun  by  the  clouds  of 
lociists  which,  while  they  remain,  devour 
every  "green  thing,"  and  against  whose 
ravages  no  provision  avails. — And  their  tor- 
ment was  as  the  torment  of  a  scorpion, 
when  he  striketh  a  man.  Painful  and 
poisonous — such  is  the  sting  of  a  scorpion.  So 
with  these  locusts — their  sting  poisons,  and  at 
the  same  time  torments. 

6.  And  in  those  days  shall  men  seek 
death,  and  shall  not  find  it;  and  shall 
desire  to  die,  and  death  shall  flee  from 
them.  "And  death  fleeth  from  them,"  is 
better.  This  is  the  effect  of  the  "torment." 
One  cannot  well  help  feeling  that  the  descrip- 
tion resembles  that  which,  we  are  given  to 
understand,  is  the  wretched  condition  of  lost 
souls  in  their  final  perdition.  We  read  of 
"the  smoke  of  ^Aei?- torment"  ;  of  the  "weep- 
ing and  gnashing  of  teeth  "  ;  of  "the  second 
death,"  which  is  still  not  death  in  any  sense 
of  ceasing  to  be;  or  the  annihilation  that 
would  be  so  welcome.  The  torment  de- 
scribed in  the  passage  now  considered  seems 
strikingly  like  this.  The  source  of  it  is  the 
.same — the  pit — and  the  nature  of  it  the  same, 
however  it  may  be  as  to  degree.  In  the 
plague  of  these  locusts  men  upon  the  earth 
suffer  a  "torment"  like  that  which  the  lost 
suffer;  it  is,  if  we  may  use  the  forbidding, 
yet  expressive  phrase,  "a  hell  upon  earth." 

Now,  to  the  question  whether  history  sup- 


plies what  corresponds  to  all  this,  the  answer 
need  not  surely  be  difficult.  There  have 
been  times  when  Satanic  agency,  the  multi- 
plicity and  activity  of  every  kind  of  devilish 
ministry,  has  been  one  of  the  notable  features 
of  the  period.  Such  times  occur  often  in 
connection  with  disruptions  such  as  we  believe 
to  be  pointed  out  by  the  second,  third,  and 
fourth  trumpets.  When  the  restraints  by 
which  human  passions  are  ordinarily  con- 
trolled have  been  thrown  off;  when  general 
disorder  prevails;  when  human  wickedness 
breaks  out  of  bounds,  and  government,  soci- 
ety, all  forms  of  instituted  order — fall  into  a 
state  of  chaos,  that  is  Satan's  "hour  and  the 
power  of  darkness."  Those  conversant  with 
modern  history  will  have  no  difficulty  in 
finding  such  periods.  A  notable  one  was  that 
in  which  the  present  European  nationalities 
were  in  process  of  formation,  while  out  of 
the  political  and  social  chaos  the  new  order 
of  modern  society  slowly  emerged.  There 
wa.s,  perhaps,  never  a  time  in  the  whole 
history  of  the  world,  when  the  violent  in- 
stincts of  human  nature  were  so  absolutely  un- 
bridled, when  the  sting  of  every  kind  of  evil 
passion  was  so  intense,  when  the  sin  of  a  fallen 
world  wrought  such  misery  in  its  victims. 
The  imagery  is  most  apt  and  just  which  pic- 
tures the  atmosphere  of  those  "dark  ages"  as 
gloomy  with  smoke  out  of  the  very  abyss, 
while  from  the  smoke  every  kind  of  evil  and 
poisonous  spirit  proceeds.  The  condensed 
summary  of  the  whole  picture  is  that  the 
wickedness  of  the  wicked  becomes  its  own 
punishment,  and  that  where  the  wickedness 
is  worst  the  misery  is  most  intense.  There  is 
nothing  else  that  so  makes  life  a  burden.  The 
most  awful  and  the  most  unendurable  curse 
ever  suffered  by  man  is  his  own  sin. 

7.  And  the  shapes  of  the  locusts  were 
like  unto  horses  prepared  unto  battle. 
"The  likenesses  of  the  locusts"  would  be 
more  exact  according  to  the  Greek,  yet  per- 
haps "shapes"  is  better  English  in  this  place. 
We  may  also  read,  "prepared  for  war."     The 


Ch.  IX.] 


REVELATION. 


129 


8  And  they  had  hair  as  the  hair  of  women,  and  "their 
teeth  were  as  llif  leelh  of  lions. 

9  And  they  had  breastplates,  as  it  were  breastplates 
of  iron;  and  the  sound  of  their  wings  ?tv(.<  'as  the 
sound  of  chariots  of  many  horses  running  to  battle. 

10  And  they  had  tails  like  unto  scorpions,  and  there 
were  stings  in  their  tails:  "and  their  power  was  to  hurt 
men  five  months. 


8  gold,  and  their  faces  were  as  men's  faces.  And  they 
had  hair  as  the  hair  of  women,  and  their  teeth  were 

9  as  ihg  Ic'th  of  lions.  And  they  had  breastplates,  as  it 
were  breastplates  of  iron;  and  the  sound  of  their 
wings  was  as  the  sound  of  chariots,  of  many  horses 

10  rushing  to  war.  And  they  have  tails  like  unto  scor- 
pions, and  stings;  and  in  their  tails  is  their  power 


o  Joel  1:6 h  Joel  2:  5,  6,  7 c  ver.  5. 


appearance  of  the  locusts  shows  them  "pre- 
pared" to  make  "war"  on  men.  The  de- 
scription which  follows,  certainly  seems  to  be 
in  some  degree  conformed  to  what  is  actual 
in  the  natural  locust;  and  still  it  is,  quite  as  cer- 
tainly, not  limited  to  that.  Upon  the  words 
quoted  above,  EUicott's  Commentary  observes : 
"  The  resemblance  of  the  locust  to  the  horse 
(especially  in  the  head),  has  been  remarked 
upon  by  travelers,  and  has  found  expression 
in  the  Italian  and  German  names,  CavnUctta 
and  Heupferd.  The  resemblance  is  more  dis- 
tinct when  the  horses  are  made  ready  for  battle, 
the  hard  shell  or  scales  of  the  locusts  having 
the  appearance  of  armor."  These  resem- 
blances, however,  are,  as  the  same  writer 
seems  to  suggest,  simply,  as  we  may  say,  a 
basis  for  the  general  description,  which  brings 
in  features  to  which  no  proper  correspondences 
can  be  found  in  the  locust  as  it  actuallj'  ex- 
ists.— And  on  their  heads  were  as  it  were 
crowns  like  gold,  and  their  faces  were 
as  the  faces  of  men.  There  is  something 
in  the  head  of  the  locust  which  may  suggest 
this  description,  yet  it  is  only  a  suggestion. 
The  description,  as  a  whole,  implies  attri- 
butes in  these  locusts  suited  to  the  nature  of 
the  beings  they  represent,  and  the  mission 
they  fulfill. 

8  And  they  had  hair  as  the  hair  of 
women,  and  their  teeth  were  as  the 
teeth  of  lions.  "De  Wette,"  says  Alford, 
"quotes  from  Niebuhr  an  Arabian  proverb, 
in  which  the  antlers  of  the  locusts  are  com- 
pared to  the  hair  of  girls."  Some  resemblance 
has  also  been  claimed  by  writers  to  exist  be- 
tween the  under  jaw  of  the  locust  and  that  of 
the  lion.  Alford,  however,  thinks  that  we 
should  take  both  parts  of  the  above  descrip- 
tion as  "purely  graphic,"  and  as  "belonging 
to  the  supernatural"  elements  in  the  vision. 
It  is  to  be  observed,  nevertheless,  that  the 
several  features  of  the  representation  as  given 
are  such  as  the  actual  fact  in  the  characteristics 
of  the  destructive  creatures  named  most  nat- 
urally suggests.     Between  these   "supernat- 


ural" locusts  and  the  natural  or  actual  ones, 
there  is,  after  all,  in  each  particular  named, 
a  resemblance  which  shows  that  the  picture 
of  the  one  is  drawn  with  the  general  likeness 
of  the  other. 

9.  And  they  had  breastplates,  as  it 
were  breastplates  of  iron.  "As  it  were" 
breastplates  of  iron  ;  showing  that  this  is  not 
an  actual  soldiery  which  is  described,  whether 
Goth,  Vandal,  Saracen,  or  whatever  else;  but 
appearances  resembling  soldiers;  or  rather 
resembling  the  horses  (ver.  7)  of  innumerable 
cavalry.— And  the  sound  of  their  wings 
was  as  the  sound  of  chariots  of  many 
horses  running  to  battle.  Or,  "rushing 
to  war."  We  should  also  point  so  that  the 
clause  "as  the  sound  of  chariots,"  and  the 
clause  "of  many  horses,"  etc.,  may  read  as 
appositional,  thus,  "as  the  sound  of  chariots, 
of  many  horse.s,  rushing  to  war."  They  were 
"prepared  forwar,"  and forwar  upon  "men." 
They  rush  abroad,  therefore,  as  seen  in  the 
vision,  like,  an  army  of  fierce  soldiery,  eager 
to  destroy,  while  the  roar  of  their  demon 
wings  is  like  the  thunder  of  innumerable 
chariots  of  war  hurrying  on  to  the  fight. 
How  graphically  does  this  describe  the  fury 
with  which  Satanic  agencies  of  ever3'^  kind 
seem  to  assault  the  human  race,  in  a  time  when 
"  iniquity  abounds! " 

10.  And  they  had  tails  like  unto  scor- 
pions, and  there  were  stings  in  their 
tails  ;  and  their  power  was  to  hurt  men, 
five  months.  This  repeats,  in  substance, 
what  is  already  said  in  ver.  5. 

Looking  back,  now,  over  the  description  as 
a  whole,  we  find  EUicott's  .summary  of  its 
several  features  evidently  just.  The  seer,  he 
tells  us,  while  keeping  in  view  general  char- 
acteristics of  the  locust  plague,  partly  drawn 
from  the  early  prophets,  makes  "some  origi- 
nal additions.  They  are  locusts,  but  they 
have  the  malice  of  scorpions;  they  advance 
like  horse  soldiers  to  battle;  they  wear 
crowns;  they  bear  a  resemblance  to  men; 
there  is  something  woman-like  also-  in  their 


130 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  IX. 


11  "Afid  they  had  a  king  over  t\\ein,tvhich  m  Hhe 
angel  of  the  bottomless  pit,  whose  name  in  the  Hebrew 
tongue  i.^  Abaddon,  but  in  the  Greek  tongue  hath  his 
name  ApoUyon. 


11  to  hurt  men  five  months.  They  have  over  them  as 
king  the  angel  of  the  abyss:  his  name  in  Hebrew 
is  Abaddon,  and  in  the  lireek  tongue  he  hath 
the  name  lApoUyon. 


a  Ephe3.  2  :  L.-.b  yet.  1. 1  That  is,  Destroyer. 


appearance,  and  in  their  voracity  they  are  as 
lions.  The  exigencies  of  the  symbolism  are 
quite  beyond  the  features  of  the  ordinary 
locust ;  the.  sacred  writer  shows  us  a  plague 
in  which  devastation,  malice,  king-lil<^e  au- 
thority, intelligence,  seductiveness,  fierceness, 
strength,  meet  together  under  one  directing 
spirit,  to  torment  men."  And  it  is  true  that 
those  agencies  of  instigation  and  all  evil  im- 
pulse by  which  men  are  in  some  periods 
hurried  on  to  deeds  of  surpassing  wickedness, 
take  all  these  various  forms.  When  we  come 
to  apply  the  symbolism,  historically,  we  are 
allowed  to  recognize  the  counterpart  of  what 
is  thus  described  in  more  than  one  of  those 
forms  which  the  wrongs  and  miseries  that 
men  inflict  on  each  other  under  this  species 
of  instigation,  and  the  miseries  they  sutfer  in 
themselves,  while  goaded  by  the  scorpion- 
sting  of  evil  passions,  assume.  We  see,  as 
Carpenter  in  EUicott  says,  "a  great  sj'mboli- 
cal  army,  multitudinous  as  locusts,  malicious 
as  scorpions,  ruling  as  kings,  intelligent  as 
men,  wily  as  womanhood,  bold  and  fierce 
as  lions,  resistless  as  those  clad  in  armor." 
Those  centuries  during  which  the  wliole 
world.  East  and  West,  was  one  wild  scene  of 
ravage,  under  the  wars  waged  against  each 
other  by  the  rival  kingdoms  into  which  the 
old  empire  broke  up,  and  in  the  fierce  and 
murderous  struggles  of  the  crusades,  when 
every  worst  passion  of  which  human  nature 
seems  capable  raged  with  a  fury  nothing  less 
than  Satanic,  together  with  all  that  grew  out 
of  the  usurpations  of  the  Pai)acy,  and  the 
deeds  of  treachery  and  slaugliter  by  which 
that  usurpation  was  maintained  —  all  these 
things  which  history  records  merely  give  us 
glimpses  of  a  world  whose  spiritual  darkness 
might  well  be  represented  under  the  symbol 
of  b(!lching  smoke  out  of  the  pit,  and  whose 
disorder  and  misery  were  such  as  Satanic  in- 
fluences alone  could  instigate  or  cause.  More 
than  once,  as  we  know,  the  state  of  the  world 
was  such  that  the  conviction  prevailed  that 
the  end  of  all  things,  and  the  awful  day  of 
judgment,  must  be  at  band.  It  is  this  state 
of  things  in  general,  which  we  understand  to 
be  represented  in  the  vision  seen  as  the  fifth 


trumpet  sounds.  Through  this  ordeal,  among 
many,  the  kingdom  of  God  had  to  pass  — 
the  ordeal,  pre-eminently  of  its  conflict  "  with 
spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places,"  and  in 
low. 

11.  And  they  had  a  king  over  them. 
We  read  in  Proverbs  (30:27),  that  "the  locusts 
have  no  king ;  yet  go  they  forth  all  of  them 
by  bands."  These  locusts  seen  in  the  vision 
have  a  king,  and  much  more  do  they  "go 
forth  in  bands" — go  forth,  that  is,  under  the 
direction  of  a  malicious  intelligence,  which 
marshals  them  for  their  work  of  wide-wasting 
mischief,  and  sets  them  on. — Which  is  the 
angel  of  the  bottomless  pit.  Following 
the  Greek  exactly,  and  in  the  reading  of 
the  oldest  manuscripts,  we  should  translate, 
"  They  have  over  them  as  king,  the  angel  of 
the  abyss."  Some  writers  appear  to  under- 
stand an  allusion  to  some  being,  not  otherwise 
indicated,  who  rules  the  inhabitants  of  the 
abyss,  and  is  their  king.  In  the  vision,  ac- 
cordingly, they  would  see  him  coming  forth 
at  the  head  of  all,  and  leading  their  onset. 
It  is,  perhaps,  better  to  find  this  "king"  in 
some  personage  already  pointed  at  in  the  de- 
scription ;  and  in  that  case  he  can  well  be  no 
other  than  "the  fallen  star."  The  designa- 
tion of  him  as  "angel  of  the  abyss,"  seems  to 
be  an  allusion  to  his  first  appearance  in  the 
vision  as  having  the  key  of  the  abyss.  The 
word  ''^angel  of  the  abyss"  is  thus  in  har- 
mony with  the  general  method  in  this  book, 
where  supernatural  beings,  or  forms,  charged 
with  the  control  of  certain  agencies,  whether 
of  good  or  evil,  or  made  the  heralds  of  changes 
in  the  scenery  of  the  various  visions  as  they 
occur,  are  so  often  styled  "angels";  as  the 
angels  with  trumpets,  the  angels  with  the 
vials,  the  angels  holding  the  four  winds;  and 
in  ver.  14  of  this  chapter,  the  four  angels 
bound  at  the  river  Euphrates.  "The  angel 
of  the  bottomless  pit,"  or  of  "the  abyss," 
seems,  consistently  with  this  usage,  to  be  the 
angel  having  "the  key  of  the  bottomless 
pit,"  or  abyss;  in  other  words,  the  being 
indicated  by  the  fallen  star.  That  is  to  say, 
we  identify  both  the  one  and  the  other  with 
Satan,  "the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air.'' 


Ch.  IX.] 


REVELATION. 


131 


12  "One  woe  is  past;  and,  behold,  there  come  two 
woes  more  hereal'ter. 

i:i  And  the  sixth  angel  sounded,  and  I  heard  a  voice 
from  the  four  horns  ot  the  golden  altar  which  is  before 
God, 

14  Saying  to  the  sixth  angel  which  had  the  trumpet, 
Loose  the  four  angels  which  are  bound 'in  the  great 
river  Euphrates. 


12  The  first  Woe  is  past:  behold,  there  come  yet  two 
Woes  hereafter. 

13  And  the  sixth  angel  sounded,  and  I  heard  la  voice 
from  the  horns  of  the  golden  altar  which  is  before 

14  tiod,  one  saying  to  the  sixth   angel,  who   had   the 
trumpet,  Loose  the  four  angels  who  are  bound  at  the 


ach.  8:  13.... 6  ch.  16:  12.- 


Whose  name  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  is 
Abaddon,  but  in  the  Greek  tongue  hath 
his  name  Apollyon.  We  have  noticed 
above  the  meaning  of  the  names.  To  no 
being  could  they  so  fitly  be  given  as  to  him, 
who,  as  the  author  of  evil,  is  the  Destroyer, 
by  bad  pre-eminence,  and  in  whose  person- 
ality all  the  elements  of  Perdition  are  summed 
and  expressed. 

12.  One  woe  is  past;  and,  behold, 
there  come  two  woes  more  hereafter.  If 
we  realize,  in  any  considerable  degree,  the 
nature  of  this  which  has  now  come  before  us 
under  the  fifth  trumpet,  we  shall  appreciate 
the  warning  of  the  eagle  flying  in  the  midst 
of  heaven  with  his  thrice-uttered  "  woe  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  earth."  There  was,  in  that 
warning,  an  implication  that  the  evils  to 
come  upon  men  under  the  three  following 
trumpets  were  especially  to  be  dreaded.  In 
the  case  of  that  just  described,  we  cannot  but 
feel  that  the  warning  was  appropriate.  This 
woe  is  now,  in  the  movement  of  the  vision, 
"pa.st,"  and  two  others  are  yet  to  "come." 
This  does  not  imply,  we  must  notice,  that 
the  events  indicated  under  the  sixth  trumpet, 
especially,  are  sequent  to  those  under  the 
fifth.  "We  understand  by  it,  simply,  that  as 
represented  in  vision  it  is  "past." 

13-21.  The  Sixth  Trumpet  Sounds. 

13.  The  sixth  angel  sounded,  and  I 
heard  a  voice  from  the  four  horns  of  the 
golden  altar  which  is  before  God.  The 
Sinaitic  manuscript  reads,  "  from  the  golden 
altar,"  omitting  the  words  "four  horns." 
The  Alexandrine  reads  "from  the  horns  of 
the  golden  alttir,"  omitting  simply  the  word 
"four."  The  revised  version  adopts  the 
latter,  and  translates,  accordingly,  "I  heard 
a  voice  from  the  horns  of  the  golden  altar 
which  is  before  God."  The  sense  will  not  be 
materially  aflTected,  whichever  of  the  read- 
ings be  preferred.  It  is  the  general  locality 
of  the  voice  that  is  significant.  The  golden 
altar  in  the  vision  is  that  on  which  the  in- 
cense given  to  the  prayers  of  the  saints  was 


burned.  It  was  thence  that  these  prayers, 
made  acceptable  by  the  much  incense,  "as- 
cended up  before  God."  That  which,  under 
this  sixth  trumpet,  is  about  to  occur,  seems 
thus  to  be  put  in  relation  with  "the  prayers 
of  the  saints."  In  other  words,  we  are  again 
to  witness  the  unfolding  of  divine  dispensa- 
tions and  procedures,  which  come  in  answer 
to  prayer.  There  is  nothing  to  indicate  by 
whom  the  words  of  direction  that  follow 
are  spoken.  It  is  more  in  keeping  with  the 
spirit  of  the  description  as  we  have  it,  to 
understand  this  only — that  it  is  "a  voice." 

14.  Saying  to  the  sixth  angel  which  had 
the  trumpet.  This  command  is  given  to 
him,  Alford  thinks,  "only  in  so  far  as  he  is 
the  representative  and  herald  of  all  that  takes 
place  under  his  trumpet-blowing." — Loose 
the  four  angels  which  are  bound  in  the 
great  river  Euphrates.  The  revLsers  trans- 
late ''at  the  river  Euphrates,"  which  makes 
the  sense  much  clearer,  while  grammatically 
more  exact.  The  Greek  preposition  used 
here  (e>rl),  when  it  governs  the  dative  of  place, 
is  not  translated  "in,"  but  either  "upon,"  or 
"at."  The  latter  is  plainly  the  word  here. 
The  river  Euphrates,  must  be  treated  as  sym- 
bolical, in  the  same  way  as  "Babylon,"  "the 
holy  city,"  "the  new  Jerusalem."  To  treat 
these  as  thus  symbolical,  and  that  as  literal, 
would  be  against  all  rule,  not  only,  but  all 
propriety  in  the  interpretation  of  imagery  oc- 
curring in  the  same  general  connection. 
When  we  turn  to  seek  the  exposition  of  the 
symbol,  diflRculties  present  themselves.  Yet 
these,  if  we  gain  the  right  point  of  view  in 
our  study,  will  mainly  disappear.  For  that 
point  of  view  we  go  back  to  the  history  of 
God's  ancient  people.  In  the  times  of  Israel's 
apostasy  and  idolatry,  the  punishment  with 
which  God  visited  them  with  a  view  to  reclaim 
and  restore,  came  chiefly  in  the  form  of  inva- 
sion by  heathen  nation.s.  And  these  nation.s, 
almost  invariably — all  the  most  formidable 
of  them — came  from  the  direction  of  the 
Euphrates,    Assyria,    Babylon,    Damascus — 


132 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  IX. 


15  And  the  four  angels  were  loosed,  which  were  pre-  1  15  great  river  Euphrates.     And  the  four  angels  were 
pared  for  an  hour,  and  a  day,  and  a  month,  and  a  year,  loosed,  who  had  l)eea  prepared  for  the  hour  and  day 

for  to  slay  the  third  part  of  men.  '       and  month  and  year,  that  they  should  kill  the  third 


these  were  the  instruments,  for  the  most  part, 
of  judgment  and  punishment,  through  which 
God  chastised  his  people  in  the  times  of  their 
backslidings.  If,  now,  we  still  bear  in  mind 
that  in  all  the  series  of  visions  found  in  this 
part  of  the  book  we  are  .studying  (chs.  iv.-xi. ), 
the  church  of  the  New  Dispensation  is  viewed 
as  the  substance  of  that  type  which  was  fur- 
nished in  the  Israel  of  the  Old  Dispensation, 
we  shall  readily  perceive,  that  the  symbolical 
Euphrates  must  stand  in  a  relation  with  the 
symbolical  Israel,  like  that  which  the  literal 
Euphrates  bore  to  the  literal  Israel.  That  is 
to  say,  it  denotes  in  general  the  direction  and 
source  of  the  judgments  with  which  an  apos- 
tate church  is  about  to  be  visited.  This  apos- 
tasy has  been  very  strikingly  set  forth  under 
the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  trumpets ;  the  dark- 
ness descending  on  the  earth  from  a  firma- 
ment where  the  ordained  lights  had  failed 
to  shine,  and  ascending  out  of  the  pit  in  a 
deeper  "blackness  of  darkness"  still;  the  in- 
road of  evil  through  the  failure  of  that  Chris- 
tian instrumentality  and  influence  by  which 
it  should  have  been  stayed;  and  in  general  a 
condition  of  the  Christian  world  not  unlike 
that  of  the  land  of  Israel  in  the  times  when 
"the  Assyrian  came  down,  like  a  wolf  on  the 
fold,"  or  when  Babylon  made  of  Judea  and 
Jerusalem  a  threshing-floor.  That  such  is  the 
nature  of  the  allusion  seems  clearly  to  be  in- 
ferred from  what  appears,  by  verses  20.  21,  of 
our  chapter,  to  be  the  purpose  o{  ^^  the  plagues" 
sent  forth  under  this  trumpet.  "We  are  there 
told  that  "the  re.st  of  the  men  which  were  not 
killed  by  these  plagues  yet  7'epented  not  of  the 
works  of  their  hands,  that  they  should  not 
worship  devils,  and  idols  of  gold,  and  silver, 
and  brass,  and  stone,  and  of  wood;  which 
neither  can  see,  nor  hear,  nor  walk  ;  neither 
repented  they  of  their  murders,  nor  of  their 
sorceries,  nor  of  their  fornication,  nor  of  their 
thefts."  This  description  applies  alone  to  that 
period  of  the  Christian  Dispensation  which 
we  understand  to  be  indicated  by  the  third, 
fourth,  and  fifth  trumpets,  and  to  the  condi- 
tion of  the  Christian  world  as  it  was  when  the 
great  apostasy  was  at  its  height.  The  pajial 
religion  was  an  idolatry,  a  worship  of  pictures 
and  images,  of  saints  ("demons" — dej^arted 
spirits)  and  angels,  above  all   in  its  form  of 


Mariolatry — a  perversion  of  the  religious  in- 
stinct in  man,  and  of  every  revelation  of  him- 
self which  God  had  made,  with  a  view  to 
inspire  and  guide  the  love  and  the  worship  of 
his  creatures,  as  flagrant  and  as  ruinous  to  the 
souls  of  men,  as  any  worst  form  of  Paganism. 
The  judgments  under  this  sixth  trumpet  come 
as  the  punishment  of  that  idolatrj^  and  of 
the  crimes  prevailing  in  connection  with  it. 
As  God  visited  apostate  Israel  under  the  Old 
Dispensation,  so  now  he  visits  apostate  Israel 
under  the  New.  To  indicate  the  source  and 
the  nature  of  the  visitation,  a  symbolism  is 
employed  consistent  with  this  parallelism. 
"The  four  angels"  bound  "in  [at]  the  great 
river  Euphrates,"  are  the  instruments  of  the 
punishment.  Four  great  powers,  lying  con- 
tiguous to  the  river  Euphrates,  are  mentioned 
in  Scripture  as  having  important  relations 
with  Israel.  Three  of  these  we  have  already 
mentioned  —  Assyria,  Babylon,  Damascus. 
The  fourth  is  Persia  —  not  conspicuous,  in- 
deed, as  an  oppressor  of  the  people  of  God; 
in  some  instances  quite  the  contrar}',  as  when 
Cyrus  permitted  the  captive  Jews  to  return, 
or  when  Darius  Hj'taspes  authorized  the  re- 
building of  the  temple.  Still,  it  was  a 
heathen  power,  willing,  as  in  the  case  of 
Xerxes,  the  Ahasuerus  of  the  Book  of  Esther, 
to  oppress  the  Jews,  and  even  to  slaughter 
them  by  wholesale;  while  his  son,  Artaxerxes 
Longimanus,  exhibited  active  hostility  in  for- 
bidding the  temple  rebuilding  which  the  Jews 
after  their  return  had  commenced.  It  would, 
perhaps,  he  an  arbitrary  and  strained  view  of 
the  sj'mbolism  in  our  present  passage,  to  treat 
the  "four  angels"  as  alluding  to  these  four 
heathen  powers  —  Assyria,  Babylon,  Persia, 
Damascus  —  throned  by  the  Euphrates,  and  so 
largely  used  in  God's  providential  dealing 
with  his  ancient  people.  And  still,  there  may 
be  reasons  in  favor  of  such  a  view,  not  un- 
worthy of  consideration.  At  all  events,  we 
can  scarcely  go  amiss  in  .saying  that  the  sym- 
bolical Euphrates,  in  this  vision,  calls  our 
attention  to  the  source,  and  in  some  sense  the 
nature,  of  the  visitation  under  this  sixth 
trumpet. 

15.  And  the  four  ang:els  were  loosed, 
which  were  prepared  for  an  hour,  and  a 
day,   and   a    month,   and    a    year.      We 


Ch.  IX.] 


REVELATION. 


133 


16  And  "the  number  of  the  army  *of  the  horsemen 
were  two  hundred  thousand  thousand:  <^and  1  heard 
the  number  of  theiu. 

17  And  thus  I  saw  the  horses  in  the  vision,  and  them 
that  sat  on  them,  having  breastplates  of  fire,  and  of 
jacinth,  and  brimstone;  ''and  the  heads  of  the  horses 
were  as  the  heads  of  lions;  and  out  of  their  mouths 
issued  fire  and  smoke  and  brimstone. 


16  part  of  men.  And  the  number  of  the  armies  of  the 
horsemen  was  twice  ten  thousand  times  ten  t  housand : 

17  I  heard  the  number  of  them.  And  thus  I  saw  the 
horses  in  the  vision,  and  them  that  sat  on  them,  hav- 
ing breastplates  a.<i  of  fire  and  of  hyacinth  and  of 
brimstone:  and  the  heads  of  the  horses  are  as  the 
heads  of  lions;  and  out  of  their  mouths  proceedeth 


aPs.  68:  17;  Dan.  7: 10.... 4  Ezek.  38:  4 cch.  7:  4 dl  ChrOQ.  12:  8:  Isa.  5  :  28,  29. 


should  translate,  "<Ae  hour,  and  day,  and 
month,  and  year."  The  common  version  is 
misleading,  here,  as  implying  that  the  words 
designate  a  precise  period  during  which  the 
visitation  to  be  described  should  last.  Such 
is  not  the  meaning ;  but  that  a  certain  hour, 
day,  month,  year,  is  appointed — that  is,  a, 
certain  fixed  moment  of  time,  when  what  is 
to  be  described  should  occur.  8o  it  had  been 
"prepared"  in  the  divine  purpose  and  plan. 
— For  to  slay  the  third  part  of  men. 
"That  they  should  kill  the  third  part  of 
men";  that  is  to  say,  "they,"  the  four  angels, 
as  instruments  of  the  divine  purpose.  The 
special  mission  here  assigned  indicates  a 
significant  point  of  difference  between  what 
occurs  under  the  sixth  trumpet,  and  that 
which  took  place  under  the  fifth.  The  locusts 
were  especially  charged  that  they  should  not 
kill,  but  torment.  Here  the  command  is  to 
kill.  This,  then,  is  war,  of  which  we  are 
about  to  read  ;  not  war  of  infernal  hosts  out 
of  the  pit,  which  "torment,"  but  do  not 
"kill,"  but  war  as  history  records  it,  only  in 
this  case  peculiarly  destructive.  In  it  "a 
third  part  of  men"  will  perish:  the  words 
not  indicating  in  this  case,  more  than  in  those 
before  noticed,  any  exact  proportion,  but 
simply  how  large  a  number,  though  a  num- 
ber having  in  the  divine  purpose  its  exact 
limitation,  will  be  the  victims  of  this  war,  or 
succession  of  wars. 

16.  And  the  nnmber  of  the  army  of  the 
horsemen.  He  had  just  spoken  of  the  four 
angels.  Now  he  proceeds  at  once  to  describe 
the  hosts  which  go  forth  under  their  leader- 
ship, or  at  their  command.  It  seems  to  be 
taken  for  granted  that  the  mission  of  the  four 
angels  "to  slay  the  third  part  of  men"  will 
be  at  once  understood  as  the  marshaling  of 
great  armies  in  destructive  wars. — Were  two 
hundred  thousand  thousand.  "  Two  myr- 
iads of  myriads,"  Ellicott  translates.  "Twice 
ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand,"  is  the 
translation  by  the  revisers.  Two  hundred 
millions  would  be  the  number  so  represented. 


Clearly,  the  number  is  symbolical,  and  to  be 
viewed  purely  as  a  feature  of  the  vision. — 
And  I  heard  the  number  of  them.  "The 
number  of  them"  as  they  appear  in  vision; 
and  as  thus  representing  the  fact  that  in  the 
wars  so  pictured  the  hosts  assembled  in  the 
conteiiding  armies  will  be  vast  beyond  the 
power  of  literal  expression. 

17.  And  thus  I  saw  the  horses  in  the 
vision,  and  them  that  sat  on  them.  The 
writer  now  describes  the  figures  seen  in  the 
vision— both  the  horses  and  their  riders. — 
Having  breastplates  of  fire,  and  of 
jacinth  and  brimstone.  The  meaning  is 
that  the  breastplates  had  the  op2)en7-a)ice  of 
fire,  of  jacinth,  and  of  brimstone.  "The 
jacinth  color,"  says  Ellicott,  "seems  to  be 
the  dark  purple  or  blue  so  often  seen  in 
smoke. — And  the  heads  of  the  horses 
were  as  the  heads  of  lions.  Symbolical 
of  the  fierce  and  destructive  nature  of  the 
wars  in  which  these  hosts  are  marching  forth. 
— And  out  of  their  mouths  issued  fire 
and  smoke  and  brimstone.  All  these 
features  are  intended  to  make  the  symbolical 
forms  in  the  vision  more  accurately  and 
vividly  representative  of  that  which  the 
vision  itself  symbolizes.  These  armies  are 
innumerable,  signifying  how  general,  as  re- 
spects the  inhabited  world,  this  marshaling 
of  armies  will  be,  and  what  mighty  hosts  will 
come  in  collision  on  the  various  battle-fields. 
The  very  horses  which  the  soldiers  ride  are  fero- 
cious in  aspect;  they  have  the  heads  of  lion.s— 
fiercest  of  all  beasts  of  prey — and  out  of  their 
mouths  go  forth  fire  and  smoke  and  brim- 
stone, indicative  of  the  infernal  nature  of  the 
spirit  by  which  these  wars  shall  be  instigated. 
It  is  as  if,  of  that  spirit,  the  very  horses  which 
bear  the  combatants,  partake.  The  riders  are 
in  a  like  manner  terrible  in  appearance. 
They  wear  flaming  breastplates — the  purple 
hue  of  smoke  mingling  with  the  fire,  and  a 
color  of  brimstone,  as  if  suggesting  that  the 
armor  and  the  weapons  of  the  fierce  soldiery 
are   furnished    out   of   the    pit   itself      It    is 


134 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  IX. 


18  By  these  three  was  the  third  part  of  men  killed, 
by  the  fire,  and  by  the  smoke,  and  by  the  brimstone, 
which  issued  out  of  their  mouths. 

19  For  their  power  is  in  their  mouth,  and  in  their 
tails:  "for  their  tails  wv/«  like  unto  serpents,  and  had 
heads,  and  with  them  they  do  hurt. 

20  And  the  rest  of  the  men  which  were  not  killed  by 
these  plagues 'yet  repented  not  of  the  works  of  their 
hands,  that  they  should  not  worship  ''devils,  i^ and  idols 
of  gold,  and  silver,  and  brass,  and  stone,  and  of  wood: 
which  neither  can  see,  nor  hear,  nor  walk: 

21  Neither  repented  they  of  their  murders, « nor  of 
their  sorceries,  nor  of  their  fornication,  nor  of  their 
thefts. 


18  fire  and  smoke  and  brimstone.  By  these  three 
plagues  was  the  third  part  of  men  killed,  by  the  fire 
antl  the  smoke  and  the  brimstone,  which  proceeded 

19  out  of  their  mouths-  For  the  power  of  the  horses  is 
in  their  mouth,  and  in  their  tails:  for  their  tails  are 
like  unto  serpents,  and  have  heads,  and  with  them 

20  theydohurt.  Aiidthe  rest  of  mankind,  who  were  not 
killed  with  these  phi^'ues,  rejjented  not  of  the  works 
of  their  hands,  I  hat  they  should  not  worship  demons, 
and  the  idols  of  gold,  and  of  silver,  and  of  brass,  and 

21  of  stone,  and  of  wood;  which  can  neither  see,  nor 
hear,  nor  walk:  and  they  repented  not  of  their 
murders,  nor  of  their  sorceries,  nor  of  their  fornica- 
tion, nor  of  their  thefts. 


.bDeut.  31:  29 c  Lev.  17  :  7  r  Deut.  32:  17;  Ps.  106:  37;  1  Cor.  10:  20.  ...dPs.  115:  4;  135:  15;  Dau.  5:23. 


straining  the  imagery  far  too  much,  to  sup- 
po.se  any  reference  here  to  the  invention  of 
gunpowder,  and  the  changes  thus  introduced 
in  means  of  human  destruction.  The  descrip- 
tion throughout  is  simply  the  costutne,  if  we 
may  so  speak,  of  the  vision,  and  representative, 
purely,  of  the  general  fact,  that  the  wars  thus 
foreshadowed  were  to  be  in  a  surpassing 
degree,  inhuman,  fiendish  in  spirit,  and  de- 
structive in  effect.  This  is  more  specifically 
set  forth  in  what  follows. 

18.  By  these  three  was  the  third  part 
of  men  killed,  by  the  fire,  and  by  the 
smoke,  and  by  the  brimstone.  This  must 
be  understood  simply  as  imagery,  symboliz- 
ing destruction,  wasting  and  terrible. 

19.  For  their  power  is  in  their  mouth, 
and  in  their  tails;  for  their  tails  were 
like  unto  serpents,  and  had  heads,  and 
with  them  they  do  hurt.  There  would 
seem  to  be  in  the  imagery  here,  something 
like  an  identification  of  the  horse  with  his 
rider.  The  horse  partakes  of  the  rider's  fierce 
and  destructive  spirit,  and  shares  in  the  mur- 
derous fight.  And,  indeed,  in  the  tumult 
and  fury  of  the  fray,  the  horse  and  rider  do 
seem  alike  terrible,  especially  in  battles  as 
waged  in  the  olden  time,  when  the  fight  was 
hand  to  hand,  and  was  a  mere  trial  of  brute 
strength  and  ferocity.  The  description  here 
implies,  in  the  wars  as  symbolized  in  the 
imagery  used,  more  than  human  ferocity  and 
de-structiveness,  and  more  than  that  of  the 
fiercest  brutes.  The  picture  becomes  infernal 
in  aspect  as"  we  study  it.  Out  of  the  horses' 
mouths  sulj^hurous  flames  pour,  while  their 
tails  become  serpents,  armed  with  ferocious 
stings.  The  imagery  suggests  the  idea  of 
wars  and  btittles  waged  in  a  spirit  more  fiend- 
ish than  is  even  usually  the  ca.se;  in  which 
this  spirit  shall  be  indicated  in  a  manner  ex- 
press and  terrible.     In  the  "General   Com- 


ments" we  shall  dwell  more  at  length  upon 
what  may,  as  it  seems  to  us,  be  viewed  as  the 
historical  realization  of  this  prophetic  sym- 
bolism. It  must  suflBce,  here,  to  say  that 
during  the  general  period  whose  various  as- 
pects are  brought  to  view  under  these  four 
trumpets — the  third,  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth — 
especially  the  later  portion  of  this  period, 
exactly  such  a  prevalence  of  destructive  wars 
is  upon  record;  wars,  in  many  instances 
charged  with  a  spirit  not  less  ferocious  than 
the  imagery  here  imports. 

20,  21.  And  the  rest  of  the  men  which 
were  not  killed  by  these  plagues,  yet 
repented  not  of  the  works  of  their  hands, 
that  they  should  not  worship  devils,  and 
idols  of  gold,  and  silver,  and  brass,  and 
stone,  and  of  wood,  which  neither  can 
see,  nor  hear,  nor  walk ;  neither  re- 
pented they  of  their  murders,  nor  of 
their  sorceries,  nor  of  their  fornication, 
nor  of  their  thefts.  We  have  made  some 
mention,  above,  of  what  is  imported  by  these 
words.  It  is  now  to  be  observed  that  the 
ajiostate  church  of  the  period  under  con- 
sideration—  in  general  to  be  designated  as 
"the  Dark  Ages"  —  the  church  itself,  not 
simply  the  world  outside  the  church,  was  no 
less  corrupt  and  crimintil  than  the  language 
in  these  two  verses  implies.  With  every 
one  of  the  crimes  liere  mentioned,  the  papal 
clergy  and  monks  were  chargeable,  and  their 
example  encouraged  like  enormities  in  those 
to  whom  they  did  not  scruple,  for  a  price,  to 
grant  absolution  for  the  worst  outrages  upon 
humanity,  and  upon  everj'  law  of  God  and 
man.  What  seems  to  be  said  to  us  here,  is 
that  the  terrible  wars  by  which  Christendom, 
thus  apo.state  and  corrupt,  was  laid  waste, 
were  judgments  of  God,  "let  loose"  in  divine 
indignation,  as  when  the  heathen  hordes  in 
more  ancient  times  came  down  u]wn  ai)ostate 


Ch.  IX.] 


REVELATION. 


135 


Israel.  The  judgment,  however,  did  not  work 
reformation.  Myriads  were  slain;  but  those 
who  survived,  even  as  history  records,  "re- 
pented not." 

GENERAL    COMMENTS. 

In  the  exposition  of  these  two  trumpets,  we 
aim  to  abide  by  the  principle  of  interpreta- 
tion before  explained — to  take,  that  is,  a 
medium  course  between  that  method  of  pro- 
cedure, on  the  one  hand,  which  seeks  for 
exact  and  detailed  historical  fultillment  for 
each  more  marked  feature  of  the  vision,  and 
that,  upon  the  other,  which  in  avoiding  this 
extreme,  verges  so  far  toward  the  opposite 
one.  It  cannot  be  extravagant,  or  unsafe,  to 
assume  that  the  general  Apocalj'ptic  scheme 
has  a  distinct  and  definite  character  in  itself, 
and  that  this  is  determined  by  the  foresight 
of,  and  the  purpose  to  portray,  what  is  dis- 
tinct and  definite  in  the  history  as  antici- 
pated. Viewing  the  trumpets  as  having 
reference  to  what  is  exterior'  and  providential 
in  the  career  of  the  church — God's  spiritual 
kingdom  among  men,  the  outward  aspects  of 
that  history,  whose  more  inward  and  spiritual 
ones  had  already  been  set  forth  in  describing 
its  redent.ptlve  processes  and  results — we -find 
ourselves,  in  comparing  prophecy  with  his- 
tory, coming  upon  periods,  following  the 
triumphant,  though  stormy,  opening  one, 
which  seem  pre-eminently  suitable  as  scenes 
for  the  Apocalyptic  drama.  Indeed,  we  can 
scarcely  think  it  possible,  that  in  such  a  reve- 
lation of  the  future  as  is  understood -to  be  the 
purpose  of  this  book,  events  like  the  great 
Christian  apostasy,  or  periods  of  mighty 
change,  and  political  disruption,  like  those 
which  accompanied  and  followed  that  event, 
should  be  referred  to  only  in  a  vague  and 
obscure  way.  "We  look,  rather,  to  find  the 
general  aspects  of  these  tempestuous  centuries 
wrought  into  the  drama  as  marked  features 
of  it,  and  so  distinct  as  to  be  capable  of  de- 
cipherment and  exposition.  While,  there- 
fore, we  regard  the  third,  fourth,  fifth,  and 
sixth  trumpets  as  relating  to  the  same  ex- 
tended general  period,  reaching  from  the 
time  when  the  corruptions  of  Christianity 
began  to  tell  in  an  express  way  upon  the 
whole  system  of  Christian  doctrine,  disci- 
pline, and  life,  to  the  time  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, we  interpret  these  trumpets  severally, 
as  exhibiting  this  period  under  distinct  aspects 


of  it.  The  third  and  fourth  trumpets  present 
the  apostasy  in  its  process  and  effect.  The 
fifth  describes  that  moral  condition  which 
resulted  from  the  combination  of  two  causes 
— the  corruption  of  Christianity  and  a  gene- 
ral outburst  of  human  wickedness.  Apoca- 
lyptically represented  as  brought  on  through 
the  agency  of  evil  spirits  in  a  new  and  un- 
precedented inroad  on  men;  while  the  sixth 
is  a  picture  of  murderous  and  desolating 
wars,  which,  in  point  of  fact,  we  know  from 
history  to  have  prevailed  in  a  degree  almost 
unparalleled,  and  with  scarcely  an  interval  of 
cessation,  during  all  those  dark  and  troubled 
centuries.  Our  exposition,  therefore,  deals 
with  periods  in  the  general  aspects  that 
especially  characterize  them;  with  large 
events  and  courses  of  events,  rather  than  mere 
incidents  ;  with  princijAes  and  forces,  rather 
than  with  persons. 

It  would  be  easy  to  find  in  history  illustra- 
tions of  the  general  view  that  we  have 
given  of  the  vision  under  the  fifth  trumpet. 
The  barbaric  element  which  came  in  with  the 
hordes  that  overran  the  whole  territory  of  the 
Western  Empire,  long  survived,  and  yielded 
but  slowly  to  the  influences  of  the  nascent 
new  civilization.  The  old  civilization,  so  long 
as  it  survived,  was  vicious  and  depraved,  and 
only  in  individual  instances  felt  the  regene- 
rating effect  of  even  Christianity.  Here  was 
a  meeting  of  conditions  ominous  enough  ;  and 
when  Christianity,  the  only  influence  tending 
to  purify  and  save,  became  itself  corrupt, 
and  .so  largely,  as  is  well  known,  a  power  for 
evil  rather  than  good,  it  was  an  outlook  for 
the  nations  as  gloomy  as  can  well  be  im- 
agined. And  these  portents  did  not  mislead. 
The  history  of  Europe  especially,  the  chief 
seat  of  Christendom,  from  the  fifth  to  the 
sixteenth  century,  is,  in  the  particulars  now 
referred  to,  one  of  the  most  melancholy  chap- 
ters in  the  annals  of  the  human  race.  It  is 
scarcely  possible  to  go  amiss  in  seeking  illus- 
trations of  the  fact  in  writers  who  treat  of  this 
j^eriod.  There  were,  it  is  true,  influences  at 
work  tending  to  good ;  it  was  a  time  of 
growth,  as  well  as  of  destruction,  of  seed- 
sowing,  as  well  as  of  rude  and  wild  upturning 
of  primitive  soils;  a  time  in  which  founda- 
tions were  laid  of  m.uch  that  is  now  deemed 
most  auspicious  for  the  future  of  the  race — 
and  of  these  features,  indications  appear  in 
Apocalyptic  foretokealngs  which  we  have  yet 


136 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  IX. 


to  study.  Yet  so  far  as  that  aspect  of  it  is 
concerned  which  comes  to  view  under  the 
fifth  trumpet,  the  story  of  this  period  is  one 
of  the  most  painful  and  the  most  dishonor- 
ing to  human  nature  ever  told.  An  air  of 
romance  has  been  thrown  over  it  by  those 
representations  in  which  what  was  best  in 
the  "chivalry"  of  the  age  is  selected,  and  in 
which  deeds  of  knightly  valor  or  exhibitions 
of  courage  and  strength  are  given,  with  all 
that  should  have  supplied  for  the  picture  its 
dark  back-ground  studiously  veiled.  The 
grandeur  of  the  feudal  system  is  too  often 
allowed  to  gild  its  outrageous  cruelties  and 
oppressions ;  monastic  peace  and  culture, 
symbolized  in  the  fruitful  fields  and  vine- 
yards which  surrounded  and  adorned  the 
monasteries — a  contrast  and  an  example  to 
the  rude  peoples  who  gained  from  thence 
inspirations  toward  agriculture  and  the  arts 
of  peaceful  life — have  too  often  shut  from 
view  the  fact  that  worse  sinks  of  iniquity 
were  not  to  be  found  in  all  the  world  than 
many  of  these  ultimately  became.  The 
Romish  priesthood  did,  indeed,  often  inter- 
pose to  protect  the  victims  of  tyranny,  and 
the  privilege  of  ''sanctuary"  was,  in  those 
stormy  times,  a  refuge  for  thousands  and 
thousands  of  hunted  lives.  Yet  this  very 
practice  of  making  the  altars  of  God  a  sanc- 
tuary against  oppression  and  murder  shows 
how  unprotected  human  life  then  was,  by  all 
ordinary  means,  and  how  little  of  shelter 
there  was  in  law  or  in  justice;  while,  if  the 
priesthood  were  ready  to  interpose  where  the 
tyranny  of  others  was  concerned,  there  was 
no  power  on  earth  that  could  shield  or  save 
the  victims  of  their  own.  What  relation  of 
life  was  sacred  in  those  terrible  centuries? 
What  law  of  God  or  man  put  a  curb  upon 
ferocious  passion  or  brutal  desire  ?  To  be 
weak,  was  to  be  at  the  mercy  of  unscrupulous 
power.  To  be  poor,  was  to  be  enslaved.  To 
have  anything  that  could  tempt  cupidity,  was 
to  be  "in  jeopardy  every  hour."  To  be  a 
Christian  indeed,  was  to  be  made  the  victim 
of  persecution  ;  to  wear  the  livcr^'  of  the  Man 
of  Sin,  was  to  be  bound  to  him,  body  and 
soul,  as  the  instrument  of  whatever  mean  or 
wicked  thing  it  might  please  him  to  enjoin. 

We  may  select,  almost  at  random,  a  pas- 
sage which  will  illustrate  all  this,  as  existing 
in  one  of  the  (-ountrics  of  Europe?,  France, 
about  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century. 


We  copy  from  Kirks  "Life  of  Charles  the 
Bold."  The  condition  of  things  described, 
had  come  about  through  special  causes,  yet 
similar  causes  had  been  operative,  with  like 
results  and  widely  throughout  Europe,  during 
many  centuries.  "The  administration  of  the 
law,"  says  the  writer  we  quote,  "so  far  as  the 
protection  of  life  and  property  was  concerned, 
was  entirely  suspended.  Murder  and  rapine 
no  longer  sought  their  prey  by  stealth,  or 
waited  for  the  darkness  to  conceal  their  work. 
The  country  was  covered  with  armed  bands, 
wearing  the  badges  of  Burgundy  or  Armag- 
nac,  but  subject  in  fact  to  no  other  leader 
than  him  who  could  best  scent  the  plunder 
and  guide  them  in  the  pursuit.  These  bri- 
gands infested  everj'  highway,  and  ravaged 
villages  and  farms,  pursuing  the  work  of 
destruction  without  hindrance  and  without 
fear.  The  peasantry,  driven  to  despair,  aban- 
doned at  length  their  ruined  homes  and 
wasted  fields,  their  wives  and  children,  their 
lives  of  industry  and  care,  and  fled  in  troops 
to  the  refuge  of  the  thick  forests,  seeking 
sustenance  with  the  wild  beasts,  crouching 
from  the  sunlight  that  shone  ui)on  an  earth 
of  which  the  devil,  they  exclaimed,  was  about 
to  take  possession.'^  The  words  we  italicize 
might  almost  be  used  as  a  comment  upon  the 
passage  in  the  Apocalypse  now  especially  in 
hand.  The  picture  so  drawn  is  by  no  means 
a  solitary  one,  nor  was  the  original  of  it  to  be 
found  alone  in  any  one  of  those  gloomy  cen- 
turies, or  any  one  corner  of  Europe.  The 
character  of  the  throngs  which  followed  Peter 
the  Hermit  in  the  first  Crusade,  some  three 
hundred  years  earlier  than  the  date  given 
above,  illustrates  only  too  well  the  moral 
condition  of  the  masses  of  the  European  popu- 
lation at  that  time.  Says  Michaud,  the  ^'lis- 
torian  of  the  Crusades:  "The  civil  wars, 
which  had  so  long  disturbed  Europe,  had 
greatly  increased  the  number  of  vagabonds 
and  adventurers.  Germany,  more  troubled 
than  the  other  countries  of  the  West,  was 
tilled  with  men  trained  in  brigandage,  and 
become  the  scourge  of  society.  They  almost 
all  enrolled  themselves  under  the  banners  of 
the  cross,  and  carried  with  them  into  a  new 
expedition  the  spirit  of  license  and  revolt 
witli  which  they  were  animated.  .  .  .  They 
had  been  told  that  the  crusade  procured  the 
forgiveness  of  all  sins;  and  in  this  ])ersuasion 
they  committed  the  greatest  crimes  with  im- 


Ch.  IX.] 


REVELATION. 


137 


punity.  Animated  by  a  fanatical  pride,  they 
believed  themselves  entitled  to  despise  and 
ill-treat  all  who  did  not  join  in  the  holy 
expedition.  .  .  .  Everything  which  fell  into 
their  hands  appeared  a  conquest  over  the 
infidels,  and  became  the  just  reward  of  their 
labors.  No  captain  durst  place  himself  at 
the  head  of  this  ferocious  troop;  they  wan- 
dered on-  in  wild  disorder,  and  obeyed  none 
but  those  who  partook  of  their  wild  de- 
lirium." Their  excesses,  however,  were  fully 
paralleled  by  those  of  knights  and  nobles, 
bearing  the  proudest  names  in  European 
chivalry.  The  rapine  and  ravage,  the  merci- 
less slaughter  of  helpless  women  and  chil- 
dren, equally  as  of  soldiers  in  arms,  the  enor- 
mities attending  the  sack  of  cities,  the  utter 
pitilessness  of  the  Crusaders  when  victorious, 
as  well  as  their  brutal  fury  in  the  fight,  amply 
show  a  survival  of  the  same  spirit  which 
animated  Goth,  and  Hun,  and  Vandal,  in 
their  inroads  upon  the  old  empire  at  the  time 
of  its  tremendous  overthrow.  These  are  the 
mere  glimpses  of  the  age  which  history  af- 
fords. What  they  suggest  is  even  more 
gloomy  than  that  which  they  disclose.  For 
these  are  only  the  heaving  billows  of  a 
sea,  storm-troubled  and  boiling  to  its  lowest 
depths.  They  reveal  to  us  simply  here  and 
there  a  flight  of  the  infernal  locusts  with 
whose  poisoning  myriads  the  murky  air  of 
those  centuries  was  filled.  It  is  in  such  a 
time  that  "men  seek  death,"  and  lament 
when  they  do  not  "find  it";  the  burden  and 
misery  of  life  becoming  too  intolerable  to  be 
borne. 

In  the  interpretation  given  to  the  vision 
under  the  sixth  trumpet,  a  somewhat  specific 
allusion  will  naturally  be  understood  to  be  to 
the  wars  of  Mohammed  and  his  successors, 
and  to  the  later  contests  of  Christians  and  Sar- 
acens for  the  possessicm  of  the  Holy  Land. 
From  about  the  middle  of  the  seventh  cen- 
tury, when  Mohammed  began  the  enterprise 
of  spreading  his  religion  throughout  the  world 
by  the  sword,  until  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  the  date  of  the  eighth  and  last  cru- 
sade, there  was  a  direct  and  more  or  less  con- 
tinuous struggle  between  the  two  great  re- 
ligions— Mohammedanism  and  Christianity'. 
The  early  portion  of  this  period  was  occupied 
in  the  almost  incessant  wars  of  invasion  and 
conquest  carried  on  by  the  Saracens,  with  the 
specific  and  sustained  design  of  completely 


destrojdng  Christianity.  The  period  first 
named,  besides,  from  the  middle  of  the  seventh 
to  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  was 
that  within  which  the  apostate  Christianity 
grew  into  the  proportions  of  usurped  power, 
both  spiritual  and  temporal,  and  of  corrup- 
tion reaching  to  all  that  is  most  essential  in 
the  religion  of  Christ,  in  which  it  at  last  be- 
strode and  overshadowed  the  whole  Western 
world.  The  parallel  which  seems  implied  in 
the  Apocalyptic  prediction,  is  almost  a  per- 
fect one,  between  the  judgment  of  God  visited 
upon  Christendom  as  thus  apostate  in  these 
Mohammedan  wars,  and  that  which  came 
upon  apostate  Ljrael  in  the  invasions  of 
heathen  nations  froni  the  East  and  North. 
In  truth,  the  hosts  of  Arabian  warriors,  who, 
under  the  banner  of  Mohammed  and  his  suc- 
cessors, in  less  than  a  single  century  subdued 
to  the  faith  of  Islam  five  great  nations — Persia, 
Syria,  Egypt,  Northern  Africa,  and  Spain— 
and  which  at  one  time  seemed  likely  to  over- 
run the  whole  of  Southern  Europe,  viewed 
themselves  as  instruments  of  divine  anger 
upon  the  idolaters  of  Christendom.  To  the 
first  of  those  ferocious  leaders,  Chaled — who 
united  with  extraordinary  military  skill,  a 
fanaticism  and  a  singleness  of  purpose  which 
never  lost  sight  of  the  one  idea — the  title, 
"The  Sword  of  God "  was  given,  and  this 
designation  became  so  identified  with  the 
whole  idea  of  Saracenic  conquest,  that  until 
this  day  it  continues  to  be  used  by  writers  in 
their  allusion  to  the  wars  of  that  period. 
There  were,  in  these  enterprises  of  the  Sara- 
cens, other  extraordinary  features  quite  in  ac- 
cordance with  that  picture  of  them  which  we 
find  here  in  the  Apocalypse.  The  spirit  of 
conquest  has,  of  course,  often  so  taken  posses- 
sion of  individual  men,  conspicuous  in  his- 
tory, as  to  urge  them  from  one  enterprise  with 
that  end  in  view  to  another,  while  even  a 
world  seemed  insufficient  to  sate  the  passion 
which  only  grew  more  intense  with  each 
achievement.  It  is  true,  besides,  that  these 
men  have  sliown  themselves  able  to  infuse 
their  own  spirit  into  the  peoples  they  ruled 
and  led,  so  as  to  make  them  at  least  submissive 
to  the  exactions  necessary  in  the  carrj'ing  for- 
ward of  military  schemes  so  vast,  and  so  waste- 
ful of  both  treasure  and  life.  But  there  has 
never  been,  we  may  say,  in  the  whole  cour.se 
of  human  history,  another  instance  of  an  en- 
tire people  possessed  with  this  spirit,  as   the 


1^ 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  IX. 


Saracens  were;  amongst  whom,  in  fact,  the 
host  of  the  foUowers  sometimes  even  went  be- 
yond the  leaders  in  the  eager  passion  for  con- 
quest, and  in  the  insatiahleness  of  that  fanati- 
cism which  made  the  name  of  Christian  one 
of  deepest  reproach,  and  themselves  as  pitiless 
as  they  were  fierce.  Again,  the  "four  angels" 
that  were  "loosed"  were  "to  slay."  The  ex- 
pression implies  destructiveness  united  to  un- 
sparingness  of  a  special  sort.  AVherever  the 
Saracens  appeared,  in  the  invasion  of  coun- 
tries, or  the  siege  of  cities,  they  had  one  an- 
nouncement to  make — "the  Koran,  tribute, 
or  the  sword";  and  when  the  first  two  were 
refused,  the  last  smote  without  pity,  yet  was 
never  glutted  with  slaughter.  Like  features 
appeared  in  the  wars  between  Christians  and 
Saracens  in  the  time  of  the  crusades.  One 
reads  the  story  of  those  fell  encounters  with 
shuddering  amazement.  The  great  numbers 
engaged — the  army  of  the  Christians  which 
encamped  near  Constantinople  in  the  first 
crusade,  numbering  some  six  hundred  thou- 
sand fighting  men ;  the  waste  of  life  on  the 
part  of  the  Christians  in  the  long  marches, 
with  no  proper  provision  for  the  wants  of  so 
vast  a  host,  under  Syrian  suns  and  amidst 
the  tremendous  passes  of  the  Syrian  moun- 
tains and  in  the  ambuscades  where  the  nimble 
foe  took  them  at  unawares,  and  slaughtered 
them  by  tens  of  thousands;  as  well  as,  upon 
the  other  hand,  on  the  part  of  the  Saracens, 
where  the  heavy-armed  Western  warriors  had 
them  at  a  disadvantage,  and  crushed  them 
like  hornets  caught  in  a  gauntleted  hand — in 
these  things  the  foreshadowings  of  the  Apoc- 
alyptic vision  seem  to  be  literallj'  realized. 

There,  are,  again,  some  coincidences  of  ap- 
parent correspondence  between  t.:e  prophecy 
and  tlie  historj'  as  regards  the  Saracenic  inva- 
sion above  referred  to,  which  we  may  note, 
although  we  must  not  too  much  insist  upon 
them  as  intentional.  The  four  angels  are  "at 
the  river  Eujjhrates,''  and  to  some  extent  the 
seats  of  Saracenic  power  were  there;  yet  not 
so  much  so  as  to  make  the  name  of  the  river, 
as  it  appears  in  the  passage  we  are  studying, 
any  les,s  symbolical.  The  real  centre  of  Islam 
was,  as  it  still  is,  nt  Mecca,  although  the  suc- 
cessive caliphates  occupied  for  their  capitals, 
cities  like  Bosra  and  Bagdad,  on  the  Euphra- 
tes or  the  Tigris.  We  believe;  the  name  Eu- 
phrates, however,  to  have  a  far  broader  mean- 
ing than  the  literal   one,  and  to  cover  in  its 


significance  all  the  various  phases  of  that 
struggle,  during  a  period  of  six  centuries  at 
least,  in  which  apostate  Christendom  suflFered 
under  that  severest  of  all  divine  judgments, 
destructive  wars ;  the  most  notable  of  these, 
as  already  shown,  originating  in  a  hostility  to 
Christianity  like  that  of  Oriental  heathenism 
to  Israel,  and  waged  with  a  like  purpose — 
to  destroy  Christianity  itself  from  the  earth. 
Then  the  angels  loosed  are  "four."  So,  one 
might  say  that  the  first  Caliphs,  recognized  as 
true  successors  of  Mohammed,  were  four — Abu 
Beker,  Omar,  Othman,  and  Ali.  There  were 
also  four  great  teachers,  Imams,  correspond- 
ing to  the  Fathers  of  the  primitive  Christian 
age — Abu  Hanifeh,  Malek,  Esh  Shafy,  and 
Hanbal.  By  these,  four  schools  in  theology 
were  founded,  which  last  until  this  day.  No 
doubt,  other  like  coincidences  might  be  found. 
They  should,  perhaps,  as  in  so  many  other 
cases  noted  in  Apocalyptic  interpretation,  be 
treated  as  coincidences,  and  yet  may  be 
worthy  of  mention  even  so.  Vie  only  add 
that  such  an  event  as  the  rise  of  Mohamme- 
danism, by  reason  of  its  special  relation  to 
Christian  history,  could  hardly  fail  of  a  place 
in  an  Apocalyptic  scheme  such  as  we  are  here 
following.  And  it  is  quite  consistent  with 
the  Apocalyptic  method  that  this  great  power 
appears  on  the  scene  as  a  mighty  hostile  force, 
seeking  its  own  ends,  yet  used  in  the  divine 
plan  as  an  instrument  of  judgment  upon  an 
apostate  church. 

We  must  emphasize,  as  supporting  the 
view  we  take  of  the  vision  under  the  sixth 
trumpet,  what  appears,  in  ver.  20,  indicative 
of  the  divine  purpose  in  the  visitation  de- 
scribed. "The  rest  of  the  men" — those  who 
were  not  "killed" — 'Repented  not."  We 
infer  that  to  bring  them  to  such  repentance 
was  the  ))urpose  of  the  "plague"  sent  upon 
them.  The  sins  of  which  they  were  to  re- 
pent, were  those  into  which  Christians  under 
the  a]iostasy,  and  especially  those  who  rep- 
resented the  Christianity  of  that  period — 
the  rulers  and  teachers  of  the  church — had 
fallen.  The  period  we  have  been  consider- 
ing, had  then,  these  two  marked  features — 
the  corrujition  of  Christianity,  on  the  one 
hand,  to  such  an  extent  as  to  make  this  apos- 
tasy comparable  in  many  features  to  the  idola- 
trous ones  of  ancient  Israel,  and  upon  the 
other  hand,  a  wide  and  almost  constant 
l)revalence    of    devastating    wars,    with    the 


Ch.  X.] 


REVELATIOK 


139 


CHAPT 

miseries  always  attendant  upon  such.  We 
are  taught  here,  to  see  in  the  one,  God's 
just  judgment  upon  the  other.  Of  this 
underlying  divine  philosophy  history  takes 
little  or  no  account;  prophecy  makes  it  pre- 
eminent as  a  clue  to  the  right  interpretation 
of  the  record.  The  "men"  so  visited,  how- 
ever, "repented  not."  A  primitive  Chris- 
tianity and  a  pure  church  were  to  be  restored 
by  other  means.  Of  these,  we  now,  in  the 
chapter  immediately  following,  are  to  learn. 



THE   STRONG  ANGEL  AND   THE      I 
LITTLE   BOOK.  | 

The  confusion  among  commentators  with  ' 
reference,  especially,  to  the  opening  verses 
of  this  chapter,  is  even  unusually  great.  Of 
all  who  have  written  upon  it  one  can  scarcely 
find  any  two  who  are  agreed.  To  catalogue 
these  various  theories  of  interpretation  for 
this  portion  of  our  book  would  only  bewilder 
the  reader,  and  afford  very  little  help  toward 
a  right  solution  of  the  questions  involved. 
We  prefer  to  give  our  own  view  at  once, 
placing  such  reference  as  may  be  needful  to 
those  of  others  in  connection  with  the  ex- 
position we  have  to  offer.  As  a  preliminary 
to  this  exposition,  it  is  important  that  we 
notice  in  what  relation  this  chapter,  and  the 
one  immediately  following,  are  placed  with 
those  which  precede  and  those  which  come 
after  them.  With  the  twelfth  chapter,  as  we 
trust  will  appear  when  we  come  to  study  it, 
and  as  has  already  been  explained,  an  en- 
tirely new  series  of  visions  begins,  in  which 
we  are  taken  back  to  the  opening  of  the 
Christian  Dispensation,  while  in  the  succes- 
sion of  visions  which  follow,  those  aspects  of 
the  kingdom  of  God,  in  its  earthly  ordeal, 
which  have  already  been  presented  in  the 
seals  and  the  trumpets,  are  renewed,  although, 
as  we  shall  see,  in  an  entirely  new  system  of 
symbols,  and  with  new  points  of  view.  The 
ninth  chapter  has  closed  with  the  sounding 
of  the  sixth  trumpet,  and  these  two  now  to  be 
studied — the  tenth,  and  the  eleventh  as  far  as 
to  ver.  15 — are  interposed  between  this  sixth 
trumpet  and  the  seventh.  The  six  trumpets 
already  studied,  as  explained  in  the."  General 
Comments"  at  the  close  of  the  last  chapter, 
we  regard  as  covering  the  period  from  the 
fall   of  the   Roman    Empire,  and   the   papal 


ER   X. 

apostasy,  to  the  Reformation,  with  particular 
reference  to  the  confusions  and  the  bloody 
wars  of  those  dismal  centuries.  At  the  point 
now  reached  two  intercalary  chapters,  as  we 
may  perhaps  call  them,  are  interposed.  Upon 
this  we  copy  a  few  words  from  Mr.  Boyd 
Carpenter,  in  Ellicott's  Commentary.  He  is 
speaking  of  the  interposed  visions  after  the 
opening  of  the  sixth  seal,  and  of  those  now 
in  question.  "The  similarity  of  the  situa- 
tion,"' he  saj's,  "of  these  interposed  visions 
(episodes,  as  they  have  not  very  accurately 
been  called),  suggests  that  there  must  be  some 
corresponding  value  in  their  interpretation. 
This  appears  to  be  found  in  the  answer  to 
the  question  which  rises  spontaneously  as  the 
visions  of  the  seals  and  the  trumpets  draw  to 
a  close.  We  see  the  scenes  which  the  seals 
disclose,  and  we  learn  how  war,  pestilence, 
death,  persecution,  revolution,  are  to  con- 
tinue, and  we  ask:  What  becomes  of  the 
church,  the  bride  of  Christ?  Where  are  the 
true  servants  of  God  during  these  trials? 
We  are  answered  by  the  interposed  visions 
of  the  seventh  chapter,  that  they  are  sealed, 
and  they  will  be  safe.  Similarly,  the  scenes 
disclosed  by  the  trumpets  are  spread  before 
us,  and  we  see  the  features  which  mark  the 
advance  of  Christianity  in  the  world  .  .  .  and 
amid  these  confusions  ...  we  almost  lose 
sight  of  the  church,  or  gain  only  a  few  hints 
which  show  that  she  is  not  unharmed  in  the 
conflict;  and  again  we  ask:  What  becomes 
of  the  church,  the  bride  of  Christ?  Where 
is  her  work  and  the  tokens  of  her  advance? 
To  this  the  interposed  visions  of  the  present 
section  [chapters  tenth  and  eleventh]  are  de- 
signed to  give  an  answer." 

In  the  main  we  accept  this  view;  only,  we 
must  assign  to  the  tenth  chapter  another  pur- 
pose in  connection  with  this,  and  one  quite  as 
important.  We  shall  hope  that  our  expo- 
sition may  make  it  clear  that  the  ajipearance 
of  the  strong  angel  with  the  little  book  is 
epochal  in  its  significance,  serving  not  only  to 
illustrate  God's  care  of  his  people  and  his 
truth,  even  in  the  worst  of  times,  but  also  to 
signalize  a  stage  in  the  progress  of  his  king- 
dom so  important  that  it  might  almost  be 
itself  characterized  as  an  era.  To  show  this, 
with  some  of  the  inferences  which  follow,  is 
the  purpose  of  our  exposition,  in  dealing  with 
the  opening  verses  of  the  chapter,  especially. 


140 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  X. 


A  ND  I  saw  another  mighty  angel  come  down  from 
J\  heaven,  clothed  with  u  cloud:  "and  a  rainbow  was 
upon  his  lu'ad,  and  'his  face  was  as  it  were  the  sun,  and 
'his  feet  as  pillars  of  tire: 


1  And  I  saw  another  strong  angel  coming  down  out 
of  heaven,  arrayed  with  a  cloud;  and  the  rainbow 
was  upon  his  head,  and  his  face  was  as  the  sun,  and 
his  feet  as  pillars  of  tire ;  and  he  had  in  his  hand  a 


a  Ezek.  1 :  28 b  Matt.  17:2;  ch.  1 ;  16 c  ch.  1 :  15. 


1-17.  The  Angel. 

1.  And  I  saw  another  mighty  ["strong," 
'ktxvp'oi']   angel  come   down   from   heaven. 

''Descending  out  of  heaven"  would  be  a 
more  literal  rendering  of  the  Greek.  It 
seems  unnecessary  to  attempt  any  precise 
determination  of  the  question  some  commen- 
tators notice  as  to  John's  position,  while  the 
vision  now  to  be  described  passes  before  him. 
We  are  not  obliged  to  deal  with  the  changing 
scenes  of  a  vision  as  with  actual  occurrences. 
As  Hengstenberg  justly  remarks,  a  latitude 
of  conception  is  here  to  be  allowed  :  "When 
the  vision  is  seen  on  earth,  he  is  on  earth"  — 
as  in  the  wilderness  (ch. u:  3) — "but  when  the 
vision  is  in  heaven,  he  is  there."  We  should 
add  that  the  Apocalyptic  scene,  as  elsewhere 
explained,  includes  both  earth  and  heaven, 
in  the  sense  that  the  events  and  personages 
seen  are  sometimes  in  the  one,  sometimes  in 
the  other;  sometimes,  as  here,  passing  be- 
tween.— Clothed  with  a  cloud.  The  cloud, 
according  to  Lange,  "denotes,  in  general, 
the  my.sterious  veiling  of  the  divine  and 
heavenly  glory  from  the  human  eye  on 
earth."  Alford  thinks  that  the  cloud  charac- 
terizes the  angel  "as  a  messenger  of  divine 
judgment."  It  does  not  seem  at  all  clear,  as 
we  trust  may  be  inferred  from  the  exposition 
below,  that  the  mission  of  the  angel  is,  char- 
acteristically, one  of  "judgment";  but  on  the 
contrary.  "Clouds,"  in  general,  when  ac- 
companying strictly  divine  manifestations, 
are,  as  we  have  noted  elsewhere,  symbols  of 
the  severer  attributes  of  God's  nature:  as 
when  it  is  said,  "Clouds  and  darkness  are 
round  about  him:  righteousness  and  judg- 
ment are  the  habitation  of  his  throne" 
(p«.a7:  2).  So,  likewise,  in  a  place  in  this  book 
already  commented  upon  (ch.  i:  7):  "Behold 
he  Cometh  with  clouds,  and  every  eye  shall 
see  him,  and  they  also  which  i)i(!rc('d  him; 
and  all  kindreds  of  the  earth  shall  wail  be- 
cause of  him."  The  cloud  at  the  Transfigu- 
ration, however  (M«tt.  i7:5),  and  the  cloud 
which  snatched  Jesus  from  the  sight  of  his 
disciples  after  the  Ascension,  have  another 
meaning.      They    are    not    accompaniments 


and  symbols  of  what  is  expressly  divine,  so 
much  as  veils  "of  the  heavenly  glory,"  to 
use  Lange's  words — making  that  glory  more 
endurable  to  human  sight.  We  so  under- 
stand it  here.  The  being  who  descends  is  a 
representative  angelic  one,  not  shining  in  the 
full  splendor  of  heavenly  brightness,  but 
with  a  cloud  "cast  about  him,"  as  the  word 
in  the  Greek  imports.— And  a  rainbow  was 
upon  his  head.  "  The  rainbow"  is  a  literal 
rendering.  It  is  the  covenant  bow,  worn  as  a 
crown  by  this  "strong  angel"  ;  who  comes, 
as  we  shall  see,  upon  a  mission  connected 
with  the  fulfillment  of  covenant  promise. — 
And  his  face  was  as  it  were  the  sun,  and 
his  feet  as  pillars  of  fire.  We  trace  here 
a  resemblance  to  the  description  given  of  the 
Lord  himself,  as  in  ch.  1:  13,  16,  where  "his 
countenance  was  as  the  sun  shineth  in  his 
strength,"  and  "his  feet  like  unto  fine  brass, 
as  if  they  burned  in  a  furnace."  Are  we 
to  understand,  then,  that  the  angel  in  our 
present  passage  is  Christ  himself?  It  seems 
decisive  against  this  that  he  is  termed  another 
angel,  in  which  he  is  evidently  classed,  in 
general,  with  those  that  have  been  men- 
tioned previously,  and  in  particular  with  the 
"strong  angel"  mentioned  in  ch.  5:  2,  who 
calls  with  the  mighty  voice  for  one  to  appear 
worthy  to  open  the  sealed  book.  As  in  these 
former  instances,  we  must  in  consistency 
view  that  as  simply  one  of  those  representa- 
tive angelic  forms  which  come  successively 
upon  the  scene,  each  as  representing  some 
divine  force,  or  purpose,  or  operation.  In 
the  present  case,  he  represents  the  person  and 
work  of  our  Lord  as  Saviour  and  Sovereign, 
and  the  symbols  which  unite  in  him  take 
form  accordingly.  Thus  EUicott:  "Some  call 
this  the  Angel  of  Time,  because  of  his  utter- 
ance in  ver.  6;  but  is  it  not  rather  the  typi- 
cal representative  of  the  angel  of  the  New 
Testament,  coming  with  the  tokens  of  cove- 
nant truth,  and  power,  and  love?"  His  face 
shining  as  the  sun  reminds  of  what  this  same 
apostle  elsewhere  says  of  our  Lord  (Johni:  4): 
"In  him  was  life:  and  the  life  was  the  light 
of  men.     And  the  light  shineth  in  darkness." 


Ch.  X.] 


REVELATION. 


141 


2  And  he  had  in  his  hand  a  little  hook  open:  "and 
he  set  his  right  lout  upon  the  sea,  and  hin  lel't  fool  on 
the  earth, 


2  little  book  open :    and   he  set  his  right  foot  upon 


a  Matt.  28  :  18. 


His  feet,  "as  pillars  of  fire,"  tread  the  earth, 
says  Eilicott,  "strong  in  the  power  of  purifi- 
cation and  judgment" — for,  as  in  wrath,  God 
remembers  mercy,  so  in  mercy  he  does  not 
forget  the  interests  of  righteousness. 

2.  And  he  had  in  his  hand  a  little  book 
open.  In  two  resj^ects  this  book  ditfers  from 
the  sealed  book  mentioned  in  the  fifth  chap- 
ter: it  is  not  sealed,  but  is  "open,"  and  it  is  a 
little  book.  In  both  these  particulars  it  seems 
to  be  put  in  contrast  with  the  book  in  the 
former  place.  In  its  nature  and  its  purpose, 
therefore,  it  differs  from  the  former  one.  Its 
contents  are  things  already  revealed,  since  it 
is  "open"  ;  and  being  a  little  book,  it  must 
relate  to  something  so  specific  and  condensed, 
that  it  may  be  thus  briefly  declared.  Taken 
in  the  light  of  what  appears  further  on,  as 
will  be  shown,  we  think  the  "little  book" 
should  be  viewed  in  some  other  light  than  as 
simply  either  the  whole  or  "one  portion,"  as 
Alford  thinks,  of  that  which  the  seer  is  to 
disclose  "in  his  future  prophesyings."  The 
emphatic  indication  of  its  diminutiveness — 
the  word  used  (fiip\apiSi.ov),  meaning  a  very 
small  book,  like  what  the  French  call  a 
brochure — seems  intended  to  suggest  some- 
thing significant  in  its  character.  If  what  is 
said  above,  besides,  with  reference  to  the 
twelfth  chapter,  be  accepted,  it  seems  impos- 
sible to  connect  what  we  trace  here  in  any 
way  with  what  appears  there ;  nor  would  the 
symbol  of  a  little  book  have  any  appropriate- 
ness in  relation  to  such  a  variety  of  great  and 
momentous  events  as  those  "future  prophe- 
syings" include.  The  opening  of  the  twelfth 
chapter  takes  us  back  to  "the  beginning  of 
the  gospel."  The  closing  verse  of  the  eleventh 
reads  like  the  close  to  a  series  of  visions,  all 
the  parts  of  which  round  out  within  that 
limit  to  a  complete  whole.  From  the  twelfth 
chapter  on,  we  have  an  entirely  new  system 
of  visions,  upon  a  wholly  new  plan,  and 
related  to  these  now  occupying  us  only  in  the 
most  general  way.  We  cannot  see  reason  for 
including  them  in  any  way  in  the  contents 
of  "the  little  book."  We  take  it,  in  fact, 
that  the  symbolical  significance  of  this  ap- 
pearance of  the  angel  with  the  book  belongs 


mainly  to  this  tenth  chapter,  and  is  to  be 
interpreted  in  that  connection. — And  he  set 
his  right  foot  upon  the  sea,  and  his  left 
foot  on  the  earth.  Various  fiuiciful  expo- 
sitions have  been  proposed  here:  as  by  Ben- 
gel,  that  the  sea  and  land  denote  Europe  and 
Asia;  and  by  Hengstenberg,  "the  sea  of  peo- 
ples, and  the  cultivated  world."  De  Wette's 
view  is  better  —  that  the  tidings  brought 
by  the  angel  are  for  the  whole  earth.  The 
action  is  certainly  significant,  and  may  help 
us  in  gaining  a  more  correct  idea  of  the  mis- 
sion of  the  angel  and  the  symbolism  of  the 
little  book.  The  planting  of  one  foot  on  the 
sea  and  one  on  the  land,  seems  like  a  taking 
possession  of  both  in  the  interest  of  this  mis- 
sion ;  so,  likewise,  whatever  the  book  im- 
ports must  be  of  world-wide  significance  and 
value.  Lange  understands  the  little  book  to 
be  "the  book  of  the  world's  end,  the  revela- 
tion of  the  events  of  the  approaching  end  of 
the  world."  He  thinks  its  contents  are  rela- 
tively reflected  "in  the  everlasting  gospel" 
(ch.  14:6),  which  the  angel  flying  in  the  midst 
of  heaven  has  it  in  charge  to  "preach  unto 
them  that  dwell  on  the  earth,  and  to  every 
nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  peo- 
ple." It  is,  indeed,  deserving  of  notice,  how 
much  what  we  have  quoted  from  ch.  14  re- 
sembles the  language  of  ver.  11  in  our  present 
chapter,  where  it  is  said  to  John,  after  he  has 
received  and  eaten  the  little  book:  "Thou 
must  prophesy  again  before  many  peoples, 
and  nations,  and  tongues,  and  kings."  View- 
ing the  contents  of  the  book,  here,  as  "rela- 
tively" the  same  as  the  message  of  the  angel 
in  ch.  14:  6,  and  similarly  world-wide  in 
their  value  and  application,  Lange  thinks 
that  the  setting  of  the  angel's  feet  on  the  sea 
and  on  the  land  denotes,  "not  simply  and  in 
general  his  [Christ's]  power  over  the  whole 
earth ;  but  also,  particularly,  his  power  over 
the  two  opposite  forms  of  its  spiritual  life — 
earth  and  sea;  theocracy  and  world."  As 
the  reader  may  infer  from  this,  Lange  recog- 
nizes in  the  "strong  angel"  our  Lord  him- 
self, and  hence  perceives  in  the  symbolism 
of  the  action  now  considered,  that  element  of 
world-wide  dominion.    We  prefer,  as  already 


142 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  X. 


3  And  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  as  when  a  lion  roareth: 
and  when  he  had  cried,  "seven  thunders  uttered  their 
voices. 

4  And  when  the  seven  thunders  had  uttered  their 
voices,  I  was  ahout  to  write:  and  I  heard  a  voice  from 
heaven  saying  unto  me,  '.Seal  up  those  things  which 
the  seven  thunders  uttered,  and  write  them  not. 


3  the  sea,  and  his  left  foot  upon  the  earth ;  and  he  cried 
with  a  great  voice,  as  a  lion  roareth:  and  when  he 

4  cried,  the  seven  thunders  uttered  their  voices.  And 
when  the  seven  thunders  uttered  Iheir  nuices,  I  was 
about  to  write:  and  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven 
saying,  8eal  up  the  things  which  tlie  seven  thunders 


a  ch.  8:  5 b  Dan.  8: 


explained,  to  view  the  angel  as  representative 
of  our  Lord.  His  action  may  symbolize 
dominion;  but  we  find  its  chief  significance 
in  what,  as  we  shall  explain  presently,  we 
regard  as  the  contents  of  the  book  in  his 
hand.  Whether  "sea"  and  "land"  are  here 
to  be  taken  in  the  symbolical  sense  indicated 
by  Lange,  we  are  not  sure.  The  natural 
interpretation  of  the  angel's  action  is  as  an 
indication  that  his  mission  and  message  are 
of  world-wide  moment,  and  are  to  be  world- 
wide in  their  eflTect. 

3.  And  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  as 
when  a  lion  roareth.  The  lion-voice  is 
suitable  to  him  who,  in  the  vision,  represents 
in  symbol  "the  Lion  of  the  Tribe  of  Juda." 
The  Speaker's  Commentary  thinks  that  a 
"menacing  tone  in  the  voice  is  thus  indi- 
cated"; Ebrard,  that  the  voice,  with  lion- 
like tone,  is  a  signal  to  the  seven  thunders 
which  immediately  follow. — When  he  had 
cried,  seven  thunders  uttered  their 
voices.  These  thunders,  says  the  Speaker's 
Commentary,  "issue,  as  it  were,  from  the 
cloud  which  veils  the  angel,  and  are  the  echo 
of  his  lion-voice."  The  thunders,  however, 
are  not  simply  an  "echo";  they  are  them- 
selves vocal,  and  have  an  utterance  of  their 
own.  Things  are  spoken  in  these  thunder- 
tones  which  John  at  first  understands  as  in- 
tended for  record. 

4.  When  the  seven  thunders  had  ut- 
tered their  voices  [or,  "had  spoken"],  I 
was  about  to  write ;  and  I  heard  a  voice 
from  heaven,  saying  unto  me.  Seal  up 
those  things  which  the  seven  thunders 
uttered,  and  write  them  not.  We  find 
here  an  intimation  that  in  the  intervals  of  the 
visions,  throughout,  John  was  engaged  in 
writing  down  the  things  seen  and  heard.  It 
was,  therefore,  more  or  less  in  his  trance-like 
state  that  even  the  writing  of  the  book  was 
done — a  circumstance  which  explains  many 
of  its  peculiarities.  In  the  present  case  he  is 
forbidden  to  write  what  the  thunders  had  ut- 
tered;   he   is  commanded   to   "seal  up"  the 


things  spoken,  and  write  them  not — to  treat 
them,  that  is,  as  things  reserved  and  secret. 
Questions  oflfer  themselves  as  to  the  reason  of 
this  injunction,  as  well  as  the  import  of  the 
utterances  themselves,  which  cannot,  perhap.s, 
be  answered.  There  must  have  been  a  pur- 
pose in  the  utterance,  and  a  purpose  alst)  in 
the  command  not  to  write.  The  former,  prob- 
ably, concerned  John  himself;  the  latter, 
those  for  whom  his  book  is  written.  The 
thunders  appear  to  have  been  a  part  of  that 
scenic  symbolism  by  which  the  appearance  of 
the  angel  was  accompanied.  They  were  a 
divine  attestation  of  his  mission;  and  for  John 
seem  to  have  conveyed  something  as  to  the 
import  of  that  mission  which  it  was  not  per- 
mitted him  to  disclose.  The  only  place  in 
i  the  New  Testament  where  anything  is  found 
j  that  may  help  in  our  explanation  is  in  another 
!  of  John's  own  writings,  the  twelfth  chapter 
of  his  Gospel.  We  there  read  (ver.  28-3.3)  of 
the  voice  from  heaven  in  response  to  the  ap- 
peal of  Jesus  in  presence  of  the  multitude 
assembled  "at  the  feast,"  and  of  which  the 
people  "that  stood  by  and  heard  it  said  that  it 
thundered ;  others  said.  An  angel  spake  to 
him."  What  our  Lord  says  of  it  is:  "This 
voice  came  not  because  of  me,  but  for  your 
sakes."  And  then  he  exclaims,  as  if  to  some 
extent  interpreting  the  thunder-voice  they 
had  just  heard:  "Now  is  the  judgment  of 
this  world;  now  shall  the  prince  of  this  world 
be  cast  out.  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the 
earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me.  This  he 
said,  signifying  what  death  he  should  die." 
The  words  of  the  voice  from  heaven  which 
the  people  had  so  indistinctly  heard,  were  a 
response tothe  Lord'sappeal,  "Father,  glorify 
thy  name."  The  response  was:  "I  have  both 
glorified  it,  and  will  glorify  it  again."  There 
is  something  of  helpful  suggestion  in  all  this, 
when  put  in  connection  with  our  present  pas- 
sage. The  thunder-voice  heard  as  the  angel 
descends,  is  like  that  voice  from  lieaven  which 
the  people  heard  on  that  day,  and  which  tes- 
tified in  their  presence  to  the  character  and 


Ch. 

X.] 

REVELATION. 

143 

5  And  the  an 
upon  the  earth 

gel  which  I  saw  stand  upon  the  sea  and 
« lifted  up  his  hand  to  heaven, 

5  uttered,  and  write  them  not. 
I  saw  standing  upon  the  sea 

And  the  angel 
and  upon  the 

whom 
earth 

oEx.  6:  8; 

Dan.  12:  7. 

mission  of  him  who  stood  before  them.  These 
were  actual  utterances — words  spoken,  on  this 
occasion  as  on  that,  and  doubtless  now  as  then, 
having  reference  to  the  mi.ssion  of  him  whose 
person  and  office  are  thus  recognized;  with 
this  difference,  however,  that  while  our  Lord 
interpreted  the  utterance,  John  is  commanded 
to  keep  it  secret.  On  the  occasion  mentioned 
in  the  Gospel,  the  voice  from  heaven,  so  ma- 
jestic and  overaweing,  signalized  the  near  ap- 
proach of  an  event  momentous  in  the  highest 
degree — the  lifting  up  from  the  earth  of  him 
who  as  thus  lifted  up  was  to  draw  all  men 
unto  himself;  the  consummation,  in  other 
words,  of  the  Eedeemer's  earthly  work  in  his 
death  upon  the  cross  as  the  world's  Saviour, 
and  his  subsequent  ascension  to  the  right  hand 
of  the  Father.  To  this  Jesus  had  previously 
made  allusion  in  saying:  "The  hour  is  come 
that  the  Son  of  man  should  be  glorified." 
We  take  the  utterance  of  the  seven  thun- 
ders in  the  vision  now  under  consideration,  as 
similar  in  its  significance.  The  thunders  sig- 
nalize an  epoch  in  the  history  of  God's  king- 
dom on  earth;  they  announce  new  and  great 
changes  in  the  divine  procedure  as  regards  his 
kingdom,  and  as  regards  the  world  of  men. 
The  unfolding  of  the  Apocalyptic  scheme  has 
now  reached  a  point  where  the  affairs  of  the 
world  and  of  the  church  in  the  world,  are 
about  to  take  on  a  new  aspect.  The  scene  is 
about  to  change.  As  the  sixth  trumpet-vision, 
in  which  so  much  has  been  seen  of  God's 
righteous  judgment  upon  apostate  Christen- 
dom, passes  from  the  field  of  view,  suddenly 
appears  a  form  resplendent  in  the  glory  of 
that  covenanting  grace  which  God,  after  all, 
has  not  forgotten  ;  while  above  even  the  tumult 
of  the  world's  disorder  a  voice  sounds,  an- 
nouncing in  its  tone  the  world-wide  moment- 
ousness  of  the  events  that  now  are  drawing 
near.  It  is  as  when,  at  the  giving  of  the 
Law  on  Mount  Sinai,  "there  were  thunder- 
ings  and  lightnings,  and  a  thick  cloud  upon 
the  mount,  and  the  voice  of  the  trumpet  ex- 
ceeding loud."  Only,  now  it  is  gospel,  not 
law,  that  is  to  be  proclaimed  ;  though  a  gospel 
which  involves,  with  blessings  for  the  believ- 


ing and  the  true,  judgments  upon  a  world 
lying  in  wickedness.  The  number  "seven," 
is  to  be  treated  as  in  so  many  other  places  in 
this  book.  Fanciful  interpretations  have  here, 
also,  been  put  forth,  as  by  Daubeuz,  quoted 
in  the  Sjieaker's  Commentary,  who  under- 
stands "the  seven  kingdoms  that  received  the 
Keformation,"  and  by  Elliott,  the  papal  Bull 
fulminated  against  Luther  from  the  seven- 
hilled  city;  and  by  Vitringa,  "the  seven 
Crusades."  Such  interpretations  change  to 
what  Carpenter  justly  calls  "a  bald  literal- 
ism," the  sublime  symbolism  of  the  passage. 
It  is  possible  that  the  "seven"  here  has  some 
reference  to  that  seven-fold  repetition  of  "the 
voice  of  the  Lord"  in  Psalm  twenty-nine, 
upon  which  the  Jews  founded  their  custom 
of  speaking  of  the  thunder  as  "the  seven 
voices  of  the  Lord."  This  .seems,  however, 
like  a  rather  far-fetched  suggestion.  The 
"seven"  may  be  only  that  use  of  the  word 
so  frequent  in  denoting  what  is  perfect  in  its 
kind,  and  may  allude,  simply,  to  the  loudness 
and  majesty  of  the  tone. 

5.  And  the  angel  which  I  saw  stand 
upon  the  sea  and  upon  the  earth  lifted 
up  his  hand  to  heaven.  "  The  angel  whom 
I  saw  standing,"  would  be  good  English  by 
present  usage,  and  a  good  rendering  of  the 
Greek  participle.  There  is  a  passage  in  Daniel 
(12:6,7)  of  which  this  one  reminds  us.  "The 
man  clothed  in  linen"  is  inquired  of:  How 
long  shall  it  be  to  the  end  of  these  wonders? 
and  he  "held  up  his  right  hand  and  his  left 
hand  unto  heaven,  and  sware  by  him  that 
liveth  for  ever,  that  it  shall  be  for  a  time, 
times,  and  a  half."  The  gesture  described  in 
both  these  passages,  as  belonging  to  solemn 
asseveration,  or  the  oath,  is  evidentlj'  very 
ancient.  Abraham  says  (Gen.  14:22)  to  the  king 
of  Sodom,  and  alluding  to  the  spoils  taken 
from  the  defeated  kings:  "I  have  lifted  up 
mine  hand  unto  the  Lord,  the  most  high 
Goil,  the  possessor  of  heaven  and  earth,  that 
I  will  not  take  from  a  thread  even  to  a  shoe- 
latchet,"  etc.  The  attitude  and  gesture  of 
the  angel  in  our  present  passage, lend  wonder- 
ful emphasis  to  the  weighty  words  he  speaks. 


144 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  X. 


6  And  sware  by  him  that  liveth  for  ever  and  ever, 
"who  created  heaven,  and  the  things  tliat  therein  are, 
and  tlie  earth,  and  the  thing's  that  therein  are,  and  the 
sea,  and  the  things  which  are  therein,  Hhat  there 
should  be  time  no  longer: 

7  Baffin  the  davs  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel, 
when  he  shall  begin  to  sound,  the  mystery  of  (iod 
should  he  finished,  as  he  hath  declared  to  his  servants 
the  prophets. 


6  lifted  up  his  right  hand  to  heaven,  and  sware  by  him 
that  liveth  '  for  ever  and  ever,  who  created  the 
heaven  and  the  things  that  are  therein,  and  the 
earth  and  the  things  that  are  therein,  ^and  the  sea 
and  the  things  that  are  therein,  that  there  shall  be 

7  ^delay  no  longer:  but  in  the  days  of  the  voice  of  the 
seventh  angel,  when  he  is  about  to  sound,  then  is 
finished  the  mystery  of  God,  according  to  the  good 
tidings  which  he  declared  to  his  servants  the  proph- 


a  Neh.  9:6;  ch.  4:  11;  14:  7 5  Dan.  12;  7;  oh.  Ifi  :  17 c  ch.  11  :  15. 1  Gr.  unto  the  ages  o/ the  agea.- 

aniUoTilie^oiiiii,  and  the  sea  and  the  things  that  are  therein.... i  Ov,  time. 


-2  Some  ancient 


6.  And  sware  by  him  that  liveth  for- 
ever and  ever.  .  .  .  that  there  should  be 
time  no  longer.  Many  have  supposed — and 
probably  most  of  those  who  have  not  given 
to  this  passage  particular  consideration— that 
this  announces  the  absolute  end  of  time;  a 
construction  of  its  meaning  which  is  the  oc- 
casion of  much  difficulty  in  explaining  what 
follows.  It  is  nearly  agreed  among  later 
commentators,  so  far  as  we  have  observed, 
that  the  Greek  word,  here  translated  "time" 
(xpoi'os),  should  be  taken  in  its  less  specific 
sense  of  "delay,"  or  "continuance."  The 
Greek,  were  it  the  purpose  of  the  passage  to 
announce  the  absolute  end  of  time,  taking 
the  word  "time"  in  its  usual  sense,  would 
require  the  article  (6  xpo''°^)-  The  absence  of 
the  article  suggests  that  the  other,  less  definite 
meaning,  is  the  one  to  be  here  given  to  the 
word.  The  revised  version,  as  will  be  seen, 
translates  "delay."  This,  while  consistent 
with  Greek  usage,  as  just  explained,  suits  far 
better  the  general  context  of  the  passage.  In 
ver.  11,  for  example,  it  is  said  to  John,  "Thou 
must  prophesy  again,  before  many  peoples, 
and  nations,  and  tongues,  and  kings";  con- 
sistently with  which  we  can  scarcely  under- 
stand the  angel  to  be  here  announcing,  abso- 
lutely, the  end  of  time,  even  though  deferring 
that  event  till  the  seventh  angel  sounds.  The 
giving  of  the  little  book,  with  all  that  occurs 
in  the  connection,  clearly  implies  that  there 
is  much  yet  to  transpire  before  the  end  shall 
come.  There  seems  a  propriety  in  connect- 
ing the  declaration  of  the  angel,  "There 
shall  be  delay  no  longer,"  with  ch.  6:11, 
where,  to  the  .souls  under  the  altar,  it  is  said, 
that  "thej'  should  rest  yet  for  a  little  season, 
until  their  fellow-servants  also  and  their 
brethren,  that  should  be  killed,  as  they  were, 
should  be  fulfilled."  These  words,  as  we  no- 
ticed in  commenting  on  the  passage,  plainly 
imply  an  interval  of  trial  and  suffering  then 
still  to  follow,  during  which  the  church 
should  be  in  its  ordeal,  and  persecution  still 


rage  against  the  Lord's  true  people.  The 
call  for  "vengeance,"  as  we  also  saw,  ex- 
presses simply  that  wonder  at  God's  seeming 
delays  in  times  of  trial  for  his  people  which 
is  so  natural  to  men,  and  at  the  apparent 
slowness  with  which  he  "arises  to  judge  the 
earth."  The  answer  given  shows  that  the 
divine  purpose  acts  by  a  divine  plan;  that  at 
the  fit  time  God  will  "  avenge  his  own  elect," 
by  appearing  in  their  behalf  and  in  behalf  of 
all  interests  of  truth  and  righteousness,  in 
such  a  way  as  to  vindicate  both.  Meantime, 
the  ordeal  must  last.  The  trumpets  have 
ushered  upon  the  Apocalyptic  scene  visions 
of  the  various  forms  which  this  ordeal  should 
assume.  These  have  now  brought  the  un- 
folding of  events  down  to  the  point  where  the 
fulfillment  of  promise  shall  begin.  "There 
shall  be  delay  no  longer."  The  striking  and 
impressive  recital  of  divine  attributes,  in  the 
solemn  adjuration  of  the  angel,  lends  great 
force  to  this  declaration.  It  is  the  ever-living, 
the  mighty,  the  faithful  Goxi  who  thus  de- 
clares, through  the  lips  of  his  messenger- 
angel,  his  purpose  to  now  fulfill  that  which 
was  promised. 

7.  But  in  the  days  of  the  voice  of  the 
seventh  angel,  when  he  shall  begin  to 
sound,  the  mystery  of  God  should  be 
finished,  as  he  hath  declared  to  his 
servants  the  prophets.  Some  important 
changes  in  translation  are  needful  here.  The 
revision,  as  will  be  seen,  gives  the  verse 
thus:  "In  the  days  of  the  voice  of  the 
seventh  angel,  when  he  is  about  to  sound, 
then  is  finished  the  mystery  of  God,  accord- 
ing to  the  good  tidings  which  he  declared  to 
his  servants  the  prophets."  Ellicott  trans- 
lates, ''was  finished."  Alford,  like  the  re- 
vision, "is  finished."  The  word  rendered  in 
the  common  version  "declared"  (evtjyyfAicTei'), 
means  to  annonnce  glad  tidings ;  and  is,  with 
its  derivatives,  used  for  preaching  the  gospel, 
as  in  1  Pet.  1 :  25;  Luke  3:  18,  where  the  verb 
is  so  employed;  and  in  both  Mark  and  Luke, 


Ch.  X.] 


REVELATION. 


145 


8  And  "the  voice  which  I  heard  from  heaveti  spake 
unto  me  again,  and  said,  (io  and  take  the  little  book 
which  is  open  in  the  hand  of  the  angel  which  standeth 
upon  the  sea  and  upon  the  earth. 


9  ets.  And  the  voice  that  I  heard  from  heaven,  /heard 
il  again  speaking  with  me,  and  saying,  (Jo,  take  the 
book  which  is  open  in  the  hand  of  the  angel  that 


and  other  places,  the  noun,  allied  with  it, 
(eiravyeAioi'),  Is  used  with  the  Greek  verb  to 
"announce,"  "proclaim"  (ict)puo-o-io).  The 
verb  is  used  here  with  the  accusative  of  the 
person.  Alford  accordingly  translates,  liter- 
ally, "as  he  evangelized  his  servants,  the 
prophets"  ;  for  the  reason,  as  he  states  it, 
that  "it  is  impossible  to  translate  by  a  peri- 
phrasis without  losing  its  force."  He  adds: 
"It  expresses  that  God  informed  them  [the 
prophets]  of  the  glad  tidings";  it  being 
understood,  he  says,  that  as  prophets  they 
published  the  good  news  {kvay^iXiov).  "  Evan- 
gelized," however,  is  a  word  which  in  such  a 
connection  scarcely  carries  any  meaning  at 
all.  The  periphrasis  is  a  necessity,  while  tlie 
loss  of  force  in  its  use  is  not  apparent,  to  us  at 
least,  as  it  seems  to  be  to  the  commentator 
just  named.  We  prefer,  therefore,  the  peri- 
phrastic rendering  of  the  revisers:  "accord- 
ing to  the  glad  tidings  which  he  declared  to 
his  servants  the  prophets."  What  is  this 
"glad  tidings"  ?  It  must  be  that  same  thing 
which  is  implied  in  the  phrase:  "the  mystery 
of  God."  This,  as  declared  to  his  servants  the 
prophets,  shall  now  be  fulfilled.  We  take  it 
to  be  that  "mystery,"  that  secret  purpose  of 
God,  from  time  to  time  intimated,  "de- 
clared," although  never  fully  unfolded,  to 
the  holy  men  in  different  ages  whom  he  has 
made  the  medium  of  his  communication  with 
the  world.  It  is  that  ultimate  purpose,  that 
divine  idea,  by  which  we  have  reason  to 
believe  the  whole  scheme  of  human  history 
is  controlled.  In  all  the  ages  of  this  history 
God's  dispensations  have  been  adjusted  to  a 
grand,  ultimate  design,  of  which  intimations 
are  given  in  all  those  passages  that  imply 
the  ultimate  triumph  of  his  truth,  and  the 
final  overthrow  of  error,  evil,  and  all  the 
miseries  and  mischiefs  that  come  upon  the 
race  through  sin ;  in  other  words,  the  final 
victory  and  universal  prevalence  of  his  own 
kingdom  of  righteousness  and  grace.  The 
sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet  will  usher 
in  the  accomplishment  of  this  design.  Then 
shall  be  fulfilled  the  glorious  prophecies  which 
gleam  along  the  track  of  human  destiny,  a 


light  shining  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect 
day.  Then  shall  the  prayer  of  the  souls 
under  the  altar  be  answered;  and  while  the 
Redeemer  sees  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and 
is  satisfied,  those  who  have  been  with  him  in 
the  temptation,  have  drank  of  his  cup,  and 
been  baptized  with  his  baptism,  shall  be  satis- 
fied also.  In  what  this  fulfillment  consists, 
must  be  shown  further  on.  Only,  here  let  us 
remark  that  it  is  the  angel  with  the  little  book 
in  his  hand  who  proclaims  this  "finishing" 
of  "the  mystery  of  God." 

8-11.  The  Little  Book. 

8.  And  the  voice  which  I  heard  from 
heaven  spake  unto  me  again,  and  said. 
The  corrected  translation  is:  "And  the  voice 
which  I  heard  from  heaven,  I  heard  it  again, 
speaking  with  me,  and  saying."  It  is  the 
voice  which  had  just  commanded  him  to 
"seal  up  those  things  which  the  seven  thun- 
ders uttered." — Go  and  take  the  little  book 
which  is  open  in  the  hand  of  the  angel 
which  standeth  upon  the  sea  and  upon 
the  earth.  Here  emerges  another  important 
point  of  diflference  between  what  is  said  of  the 
sealed  book,  in  the  fifth  chapter,  and  what  is 
said  of  the  little  book  in  the  angel's  hand.  It 
is  "the  Lamb"  who  in  the  former  case  opens 
the  seals.  It  is  John  himself  to  whom  this 
other  book  is  given.  The  instrumentality  in 
the  one  case  is  divine,  in  the  other  it  is  human. 
This  circumstance  alone  indicates  a  marked 
difference  between  the  two  books,  as  respects 
their  nature,  their  contents,  and  the  symbol- 
ical significance  of  each.  Some  writers  un- 
derstand by  the  little  book,  as  Dr.  Vaughan 
expresses  it,  "the  word  of  the  coming  pro- 
phecy: even  of  the  prophecies  which  are  to 
follow  in  subsequent  chapters  of  the  book." 
Hengstenberg  says:  "  The  [sealed]  book  con- 
tains the  judgments  on  the  world;  the  little 
book,  the  destinies  of  the  church."  Even, 
however,  if  it  should  be  admitted  that  Hengs- 
tenberg's  explanation  of  the  difference  be- 
tween the  two  books  as  to  size — that,  namely, 
"the  sins  and  punishments  of  the  world  con- 
stitute matter  of  a  much  more  comprehensive 
nature  than  those  of  the  church," — which,  in 


146 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  X. 


9  And  I  went  unto  the  angel,  and  said  unto  him, 
Give  uie  the  little  book.  And  he  said  unto  me,  "Take 
it,  and  eat  it  up;  and  it  shall  make  thy  belly  bitter,  but 
it  shall  be  in  thv  mouth  sweet  as  honey. 

10  And  I  took  the  little  book  out  ol'  the  angel's  hand, 
and  ate  it  up;  'and  it  was  in  my  mouth  sweet  as 
honey:  and  as  soon  as  1  had  eaten  it,  <^my  belly  was 
bitter. 


9  standeth  upon  the  sea  and  upon  the  earth.  And  I 
went  unto  the  angel, .'■aying  unto  him  that  he  should 
give  me  the  little  book.  And  he  saith  unto  me,  Take 
it,  and  eat  it  up:  and  it  shall  make  thy  belly  bitter, 

10  and  in  thy  mouth  it  shall  be  sweet  as  honey.  And  I 
took  the  "little  book  out  ol'  the  angel's  hand,  and 
ate  it  up;  and  it  was  in  my  mouth  sweet  as  honey: 
and  when  I  had  eaten  it,  my  belly  was  made  bitter. 


o  Jer.  15:  16;  Ezek.  2  :  8;  3:  1.  2,  3.... 6  Ezek.  3 :  3....C  Eiek.  2:  10. 


point  of  fact,  at  least  to  the  extent  implied,  is 
open  to  doubt — even  if  this  were  admitted, 
there  remains  the  question  why  the  instru- 
ment for  disclosing  the  contents  of  the  one 
should  be  necessarily  divine,  while  that  for 
the  other  is  human.  The  universe,  in  the  for- 
mer case,  was  searched  in  vain  for  one  less  in 
dignity  than  the  Lamb  himself  "  worthy  to 
open  the  book  and  to  loose  the  seals  thereof"; 
in  the  latter  case  it  is  John,  the  man  and  the 
apostle,  who  is  commanded  to  take  the  book 
out  of  the  hand  of  the  angel.  This  circum- 
stance seems  clearly  to  point  to  the  fact  that 
the  office  now  to  be  discharged  is  quite  other 
than  that  indicated  in  the  former  instance, 
when  the  Lamb  alone  is  found  a  fit  medium 
for  revealing  to  men  the  secret  purposes  of 
God ;  and  that  this  difference  in  office  is  oc- 
casioned by  a  difference  in  the  very  nature 
and  contents  of  this  one  book  from  those  of 
the  other.  "We  look  upon  John,  as  he  receives 
the  command  to  "go  and  take  the  little  book 
which  is  open  in  the  hand  of  the  angel,"  as 
representing  in  the  vision  human  instrumen- 
tality of  an  important  kind,  employed  in  a 
sphere  appropriate  to  such,  and  connected 
with  a  fulfillment  of  divine  purpose  vitally 
concerning  alike  the  church  and  the  world, 
yet  differing,  in  part,  at  least,  from  that  of  a 
prophetic  disclosure  of  things  to  come.  The 
loook  in  the  angel's  hand  is  "open,"  not,  like 
the  other,  "sealed."  It  is  a  me.ssage  to  be 
published,  a  doctrine  to  be  taught,  a  word  of 
God  revealed,  and  so  given  into  human 
hands,  as  ver.  11  in  this  chapter  imports,  for 
world-wide  diffusicm.  For  the  first  time  John 
himself  appears  in  the  vision  other  than  as  a 
beholder.  He  himself  now  becomes  for  the 
moment  a  representative  actor  on  the  scene. 
In  his  person,  as  he  goes  forward  to  receive 
the  book,  is  symbolized,  along  with  what  be- 
longs to  him  in  his  prophetic  character,  the 
whole  company  of  those  who  in  the  world's 
later  ages  were  to  proclaim  the  old  gospel  in 
its  new  simplicity,  and  its  new  and  j'et  more 
amazing  power. 
9.  And  I  went  unto  the  angel.     Let  it 


be  kept  in  mind  that  John  here  acts  as  in  a 
vision,  so  that  what  follows — for  example, 
the  eating  of  the  roll,  or  book — must  not  be 
received  as  requiring  to  be  explained  by  the 
laws  that  govern  actual  events. — And  said 
unto  him,  Give  me  the  little  book.  And 
he  said  unto  me,  Take  it,  and  eat  it  up ; 
and  it  shall  make  thy  belly  bitter;  but 
it  shall  be  in  thy  mouth  sweet  as  honey. 
The  Alexandrine  manuscript  reads,  "make 
thy  heart  bitter."  This  reading,  if  adopted, 
might  in  some  degree,  in  one  way,  relieve 
the  chief  difficulty  of  the  passage.  The 
revisers,  however,  have  not  preferred  it;  and, 
n(9twithstanding  the  manuscript  authority  is 
so  great,  it  is  perhaps  safer  to  let  the  common 
reading  stand.  In  favor  of  the  latter,  criti- 
cally viewed,  is  the  fact  that  so  the  con- 
sistency of  the  symbolism  is  preserved.  It 
might  seem  incongruous  to  associate  in  the 
same  symbolical  representation,  a  physical 
effect,  like  the  sweetness  in  the  mouth,  and  a 
spiritual  effect  such  as  is  implied  in  the  bit- 
terness of  the  heart.  The  eating  of  the  book, 
or  the  "roll" — for,  of  course,  the  form  of  the 
book,  as  of  all  books,  anciently,  was  that  of 
a  roll — reminds  us,  at  once,  of  the  passage  in 
Ezekiel  (3.  i  3):  "  Moreover  he  said  unto  me,' 
Son  of  man,  eat  what  thou  findest:  eat  this 
roll,  and  go  speak  unto  the  house  of  Israel. 
So  I  opened  my  mouth  :  and  he  caused  me  to 
eat  that  roll.  And  he  said  unto  me.  Son  of 
man,  cause  thy  belly  to  eat,  and  fill  thy 
bowels  with  this  roll  that  I  give  thee.  Then 
I  did  eat  it :  and  it  was  in  my  mouth  as 
honey  for  sweetness."  In  the  fourteenth 
verse  of  the  same  chapter,  however,  after  he 
had  received  his  commission  to  declare  the 
word  of  the  Lord  to  the  house  of  Israel,  and 
had  been  informed  in  what  manner  it  would 
be  received,  he  tells  us:  "So  the  Spirit 
lifted  me  up,  and  took  me  &vf&y,  and  I  went 
in  bitterness,  in  the  heat  of  my  spirit;  but 
the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  strong  upon  me." 
The  more  ancient  record  maj'  help  us  to  ex- 
plain the  later  one. 
10.  And  I  took  the  little  book  out  of 


Ch.  X.] 


REVELATION. 


147 


11  And  he  said  unto  me,  Thou  must  prophesy  again  [  11  And  they  say  unto  me,  Thou  must  prophesy  again 
before  many  peoples,  and  nations,  and  tongues,  and  lover  many  peoples  and  nations  and  tongues  and 
kings.  I       kings. 


1  Or,  concerning. 


the  angel's  hand,  and  ate  it  up :  and  it 
was  in  my  mouth  sweet  as  honey ;  and 
as  soon  as  I  had  eaten  it,  my  belly  was 
bitter.  One  point  of  difference  we  note. 
In  the  account  in  Ezekiel,  we  have  what 
describes  visions  alternating  with  accounts  of 
what  the  prophet  said  and  did  in  his  normal 
state.  In  the  book  we  are  studying,  all  is 
vision.  In  the  former  case,  accordingly,  the 
bitterness  and  heat  of  spirit  is  an  actual  ex- 
perience, and  is  felt  while  actually  engaged 
in  the  delivery  of  the  prophetic  message,  and 
while  encountering  the  hard-hearted  indiffer- 
ence, or  mocking  unbelief  of  those  to  whom 
the  prophet  was  sent.  In  the  latter  case,  the 
bitterness,  as  well  as  the  sweetness,  belongs 
to  the  vision  ;  and  the  two  occur  so  nearly 
together  that  they  are  experienced  as  in  any 
other  case  where  food  pleasant  to  the  taste  is 
soon  after  felt  as  a  cause  of  suffering.  Yet 
we  must  observe  that  in  this  almost  moment- 
ary symbolical  action  of  the  vision  is  com- 
pressed, as  in  numerous  other  instances 
that  might  be  pointed  out,  what  represents 
a  very  wide,  and  various,  and  long-continued 
experience.  How  often  those  to  whom  the 
gospel  message,  before  other  messages  more 
strictly  prophetic  in  character,  was  com- 
mitted, have  found  what  was  sweet  and 
precious  in  personal  experience  an  occasion  of 
sorrow,  trial,  temptation,  and  indeed  keenest 
pangs  of  suffering  while  communicating  it  to 
others,  is  a  familar  fact. 

11.  And  he  said  unto  me,  Thou  must 
prophesy  again  before  many  peoples, 
and  nations,  and  tongues,  and  kings. 
Following  the  Sinaitic  and  Alexandrine 
manuscripts,  we  should  translate,  "And  t/ieij 
said  unto  me."  Alford,  Carpenter,  and  the 
revisers  thus  translate:  "An  equivalent," 
says  the  second,  for  "  It  was  said."  Instead 
of  "before,"  also,  the  preposition  (cttI)  is 
translated,  it  will  be  observed,  "over,"  with 
"concerning"  in  the  margin;  the  same  ex- 
positors translate,  "concerning  (or  with  re- 
gard to)  peoples,  and  nations,  and  tongues, 
and  kings  many."  As  to  the  nature  of  this 
"prophecy,"  we  cannot  agree  with  the  emi- 


nent scholars  whom  we  have  just  named. 
The  words,  "prophesy"  and  "prophet,"  as 
is  well  known,  are  used  in  Scripture  with  a 
wider  meaning  than  simply  that  of  the  fore- 
telling of  future  events.  They  are  used,  also, 
in  the  sense  of  "teach,"  "teacher,"  especially 
in  some  of  Paul' s  Epistles ;  and,  as  there  is  rea- 
son to  believe,  expressed,  alike  in  New  Testa- 
ment and  in  Old  Testament  times,  utterances 
of  whatever  kind  underspecial  influenceof  the 
Spirit.  Consistently  with  this  usage,  it  seems 
entirely  proper  to  understand  the  word,  here, 
as  meaning,  not  strictly,  at  least  not  exclu- 
sively, the  foretelling  of  things  to  come,  but 
the  delivery  of  divine  messages,  by  divine  au- 
thority, and  with  divine  power  attending  and 
manifest.  It  should  be  remembered,  also, 
that  John,  in  receiving  and  eating  the  little 
roll,  acts  precisely  as  all  other  personages 
introduced  in  these  successive  visions  do — 
representatively,  and  as  symbolizing  far  more 
than  concerned  himself  individually.  Yet 
if  the  words  addressed  to  him,  "Thou  must 
again  prophesy,"  are  understood  as  meaning 
that  he  had  other  visions  to  write,  he  seems, 
in  such  an  exposition,  taken  suddenly  out  of 
his  symbolical  and  representative  position, 
and  viewed  in  his  character  as  the  seer  and 
Apocalyptist.  "We  prefer  to  view  him,  as  in 
this  whole  vision  of  the  roll,  as  acting  out  of 
quite  as  much  as  in  his  character  as  the 
medium  of  these  revelations,  and  as  repre- 
senting in  a  large  sense  that  ministry  to 
which  he  himself,  as  an  apostle,  belonged — 
though  now  exhibited  in  the  later  scenes  of 
its  activity — and  hearing  anew  the  message 
which  had  been  so  long  lost  to  mankind. 
We  take  the  Greek  preposition  (en-i),  however 
translated,  as  indicating  that  the  tenor  of  this 
message  will  deeply  concern  all  those  of 
whom  mention  is  made — the  "many  peoples, 
and  nations,  and  tongues,  and  kings."  This 
ministry  is  to  be  a  comprehensive  one.  The 
time  has  come  when  the  gospel  message  will 
not  only  be  delivered  in  the  unencumbered 
simplicity  of  its  original  announcement,  but 
when  in  many  "tongues"  it  shall  be  heard, 
when  "nations"  shall  be  "born"  under  its 


148 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  X. 


regenerative  efficacy,  and  when  for  "peoples" 
and  "kings"  it  shall  have  messages  of  tre- 
mendous import. 

GENERAL   COMMENTS. 

Many  things  necessary,  perhaps,  to  the  ex- 
position of  this  chapter  which  we  have  now 
offered,  we  have  preferred  to  leave  for  con- 
sideration in  this  connection.  The  pivotal 
point  in  the  whole  is  that  which  concerns  the 
symbolism  of  the  little  book.  The  angel 
descends  from  heaven  that  he  may  place  this 
little  book  in  the  hands  of  the  seer.  All  other 
incidents  of  the  vision,  however  striking  in 
themselves,  are  to  be  viewed  as  in  subordina- 
tion to  this  central  one.  The  book  itself  is  a 
symbol,  and  all  that  transpires  in  connection 
with  it  has  symbolical  significance.  It  is  not 
a  book  to  be  read ;  but  to  be  eaten.  What  it 
contains  must  first  become  an  experience^  and 
then  be  communicated ;  for  it  is  after  he  has 
eaten  the  roll,  that  it  is  said  to  John:  "Thou 
must  prophesy."  The  diminutiveness  of  the 
book,  as  already  intimated,  is  in  like  manner 
symbolical,  as  is  also  the  fact  that  it  is  seen 
lying,  an  open  roll,  on  the  angel's  hand. 
This  "open"  state  of  the  roll  harmonizes 
with  what  is  said  by  the  angel  of  the  finishing 
of  "the  mystery  of  God,"  while  its  diminu- 
tiveness indicates  it  as  a  word  of  God  in 
perfect  contrast  with  the  voluminousness  of 
mere  human  utterance,  and  in  a  reduction  of 
what  had  before  been  extended,  complicated, 
and  hard  to  understand,  to  conciseness  and 
simplicity. 

In  order  that  we  may  rightly  interpret  the 
symbolism  of  the  book,  we  must  associate 
with  it  that  of  the  vision  as  a  whole.  There 
is  much  in  the  ai)pearance  and  language  of 
the  angel  himself,  that  may  be  helpful  to  this 
end.  He  comes  with  the  covenant-bow,  worn 
as  a  crown;  suggesting  that  his  mission  must 
have  a  connection  with  the  fulfillment  of 
covenant  divine  promise.  His  countenance 
shining  as  the  sun,  and  his  feet  as  pillars  of 
lire,  remind  us  of  the  Lord's  own  glorious 
appearance  to  John  in  the  beginning  of  these 
visions,  and  suggest  that  what  is  now  declared 
has  some  especial  relation  to  his  great  re- 
deeming work.  His  attitude,  one  foot  on  the 
sea  and  one  on  the  earth,  with  his  words  to 
John,  intimating  that  the  contents  of  the 
book  are  for  "peoples,  and  nations,  and 
tongues,  and  king.s,"  seems  like  an  anticipa- 


tion of  the  flight  of  that  other  angel,  in  ch. 
15,  through  the  midst  of  heaven,  with  the 
everlasting  gospel  for  the  whole  world  of 
men.  The  announcement  that  there  shall  be 
delay  no  longer;  but  that  now  what  had  re- 
mained a  mystery  even  to  the  most  favored 
of  God's  prophets  and  servants  of  a  former 
time  shall  be  "finished" — shall  be  wrought 
out  in  divine  fulfillments — bids  us  look  for 
what  shall  be  a  consummation  of  the  great 
divine  plan,  and  the  full  accomplishment  of 
divine  purpose.  All  these  indications  are,  to 
our  own  mind,  epochal  in  character.  Wiiile 
they  cannot  mean  a  final  end  of  the  Dispen- 
sation, even  in  connection  with  the  sounding 
of  the  seventh  trumpet,  nor  the  end  of  the 
world — since  the  delivering  of  messages  to 
"peoples,  and  nations,  and  tongues,  and 
kings"  implies  the  continuation  of  time  and 
of  the  day  of  salvation — yet  they  do  suggest 
that  some  great  and  important  stage  in  the 
dispensations  of  God  toward  the  church  and 
the  world  has  been  reached.  May  it  not  be 
that  the  period  of  the  world's  history  in 
which  we  ourselves  are  now  living,  is  that  in 
which  the  symbolism  of  the  little  book  is 
finding  practical  elucidation?  It  is  a  time 
of  world-wide  diffusion  of  the  gospel  message 
in  the  simplicity  and  power  of  its  original 
announcement.  It  is  a  time  in  which  the 
Lord's  people  are  permitted  to  see  what 
kings  and  prophets  once  "longed  to  see,  yet 
died  without  the  sight."  What  we  are  ac- 
customed to  term  the  Eeformation,  was  in 
reality,  a  Revolution;  what  we  are  apt  to 
interpret  as  a  transition,  was  in  truth  an  era. 
The  leading  fact  in  the  mighty  change  that 
has  come  upon  the  world,  is  that  now  the 
gospel  addresses  men  stripped  of  the  disguise 
which  it  was  so  long  made  to  wear,  and 
announces  a  method  of  salvation  "easj',  art- 
less, unencumbered."  The  re-affirmation  of 
one  doctrine — that  of  justification  by  faith  — 
has  reduced  to  merelj'  learned  lumber  whole 
libraries  of  scholastic  lore;  while  above  all, 
setting  aside  such  an  immensity  of  Romanist 
teaching  and  practice  based  on  the  opposite 
doctrine  of  salvation  by  "the  deeds  of  the 
body."  When  men  began  to  understand, 
once  more,  that  they  are  saved  by  grace, 
through  faith,  and  that  not  of  themselves, 
since  "it  is  the  gift  of  God,"  the  whole  legal 
system  of  the  apostasy  began  to  crumble; 
while,  as  one  may  say,  just  in  the  preaching 


Ch.  X.] 


REVELATION. 


149 


of  that  one  truth,  the  face  of  the  world  was 
changed. 

But  this  does  not  exhaust  the  symbolism  of 
the  little  book.  The  gospel  is  not  simply  a 
plan  of  salvation.  It  is  besides  a  grand  scheihe 
of  divine  administration  for  the  church  and 
for  the  world.  In  ages  past  it  ha.s,  in  this  view, 
been  a  "mystery."  How  difficult  it  must 
have  been  in  those  ages  to  understand  many 
things  now  very  plain  to  the  thoughtful 
student  of  God's  word  and  God's  providence! 
How  strange  and  inexplicable,  to  Israel,  must 
its  own  history  have  seemed  !  How  true  was 
that  admonition  of  the  Saviour  to  his  own  dis- 
ciples, "It  is  not  for  you  to  know"!  How 
much  does  the  cry  of  the  souls  under  the  altar 
express  of  the  wonder,  almost  the  despair,  of 
God's  faithful  ones  during  ages  of  apparent 
defeat  for  them  and  their  cause,  and  of  appar- 
ent triumph  for  a  bloody  and  blaspheming 
foe!  '■''Mystery !^^  Truly  it  was  that.  But 
has  not  the  mystery  now  for  a  long  period 
been  clearing  up  ?  If  we  put  all  that  was  dark 
and  disturbing  to  faith  in  the  past  centuries  in 
the  light  of  the  more  bright  and  hopeful  pres- 
ent, do  not  obscurities,  perplexities,  and  doubts 
clear  away,  as  clouds  before  the  sun?  Much 
of  this,  also,  we  find  symbolized  in  the  little 
book.  This  declaring,  unfolding  of  the  mys- 
tery of  God  as  regards  the  whole  of  time,  past, 
present,  and  future,  is  itself  a  "prophecy,"  a 
teaching  "concerning  peoples,  and  nations, 
and  tongues,  and  kings." 

And  then,  we  may  infer  from  it  how  the 
prophecies  of  old  time  are  in  this  new  age 
hastening  to  their  fulfillment.  So  far  as  the 
words,  "Thou  must  prophesy  again  "  are  to 
be  understood  literally,  it  is  a  prophecy  of 
"the  time  of  the  end."  Not  voluminous, 
like  the  older  prophecies,  but  such  as  when 
the  consummation  draws  on ;  the  events  of 
years  are  compressed  within  those  of  an  hour, 
development  is  swift,  things  rush  to  their 
climax,  the  plowman  overtakes  the  reaper, 
and  the  treader  of  grapes  him  that  soweth  the 
seed. 

Tlie  eating  of  the  little  book,  with  the  effects 
that  follow,  ought  to  have,  in  our  commen- 
tary, more  than  a  passing  mention.  The  in- 
cident, to  a  hasty  consideration,  may  seem 
strange — for  how  can  a  book  be  eaten  ?  Yet 
if  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  what  is  related  here 
is  vision,  and  not  actual  occurrence,  and  if 
it  is  remembered  how  in  visions,  as  in  dreams. 


the  laws  that  govern  actual  events  are  often 
transcended — as  in  fact  is  done  when  in  the 
very  commencement  of  these  disclosures  the 
seer,  without  regard  to  bodily  presence,  is 
transferred  to  the  spiritual  sphere,  and  then 
beholds  what  to  physical  organs  is  wholly 
veiled  and  invisible — we  shall  readily  admit 
that  the  incident  now  noticed  is  not  at  all  to  be 
tried  by  ordinary  rules.  It  is,  as  we  have  no- 
ticed in  other  connections,  pure  vision  and 
symbol.  Yet  even  as  such,  its  significance  \» 
especially  to  be  marked.  Three  features  of 
the  whole  incident,  as  we  study  it,  become 
conspicuous:  (1)  That  the  book  is  given  into 
humnn  hands,  and  this  with  a  view  to  com- 
munication of  its  contents  through  human 
instrumentality — a  very  wide  communication : 
"to  peoples,  and  nations,  and  tongues,  and 
kings";  (2)  That  as  thus  received  the  book 
first  becomes  in  its  contents  and  substance,  a 
personal  experience;  (3)  That  while  in  per- 
sonal experience  at  first  "sweet,"  the  book  as 
a  further  effect,  or,  as  an  effect  of  the  ministry 
involved  in  its  communication,  brings  "bit- 
terness." The  explanation  of  this  is  found  in 
fiicts  of  personal  and  general  Christian  his- 
tory. Even  the  personal  experiences  of  a 
Christian  involve  more  or  less  of  the  element 
here  implied.  That  experience  is  for  him  a 
revelation  of  himself  to  himself.  All  that 
he  finds  in  his  Redeemer,  and  in  that  gift  of 
]  God  which  comes  through  him,  is,  indeed, 
unmixed  blessing.  The  alloy  comes  in  through 
the  continued  presence  and  activity  of  sin, 
and  through  the  painful  sense  he  has  of  im- 
perfection in  every  kind  of  attainment.  There 
is  a  confiict  remaining  to  him  in  this  world, 
which  makes  it  impossible  that  even  the  bless- 
edness of  present  Christian  comfort  and  peace 
should  be  a  final  blessedness.  But  the  per- 
sonal experience  of  a  Christian  is  not  all  that 
is  realized  to  him  as  a  result  of  his  appropria- 
tion of  the  "  little  book."  John  has  no  sooner 
received  it  and  appropriated  it,  than  it  is  said 
to  him,  "Thou  must  prophesy."  He  must 
bear  as  a  message  to  others  that  which  the 
book  has  become  to  him.  And  herein  he  will 
find  fulfilled  that  word  of  the  Saviour,  "In 
the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulation."  The 
symbolism  of  our  present  passage,  therefore, 
would  have  pre.sented  only  a  part  of  the  truth 
if  it  had  indicated  alone  that  in  Christian  ex- 
perience, received  as  a  whole,  which  is 
"sweet."    A  Christian  in  the  world  mws^  have 


150 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XI. 


AND  there  was  given  me  "a,  reed  like  unto  a  rod: 
and  tlie  angel  stood,  saying,  *Rise,  and  measure 
the  temple  of  God,  and  the  altar,  and  them  that  wor- 
ship therein. 


CHAPTEK  XI. 

1     And  there  was  given  me  a  reed  like  unto  a  rod :  '  and 
one  said,  Kise,  and  measure  the  temple  of  God,  and 


aEzek.  40:  3,  etc.;  Zech.  2  :  1  ;  ch.  21;  15 6  Num.  23:  18. 1  Gr.  saying. 


trials  and  sorrows  peculiar  to  him  as  such, 
and  the  "little  book,"  sweet  to  the  taste,  a 
precious  gift,  worthy  to  come  even  from  an 
angel's  hand,  will  not  only  bring  with  it  the 
salutary  bitterness  which  belongs,  needfully, 
to  the  most  favored  human  condition  in  this 
world  of  sin  and  temptation,  but  will  also  as 
a  viessage  become  an  occasion  of  other  forms 
of  trial ;  in  some  cases  it  has  been  the  occa- 
sion of  suifering  whose  bitterness  only  the 
grace  of  God  could  make  endurable. 

When  it  is  said  to  John,  "Thou  must  pro- 
phesy again,"  evident  allusion  is  included  to 
the  prophetic  office  he  has  already  fulfilled  in 
the  process  of  these  visions,  and  to  the  trying 
nature  of  these  prophecies.  Thus  there  ap- 
pears to  be  a  connection  in  thought  here  with 
the  "bitterness"  mentioned  in  the  previous 
verse.  Even  in  the  new  era  that  now  dawns, 
the  message  of  the  prophet  will  be  in  many 
ways  sorrowful,  whether  that  message  be 
simple  proclamation  of  saving  truth,  or  a 
foretelling  of  things  to  come.  There  will  be 
a  "sweetness"  in  this  office  as  fulfilled  in  the 
better  times  now  at  hand  ;  yet  human  nature 
and  human  history  do  not  suddenly  change, 
and  what  concerns  "  peoples,  and  nations, 
and  tongues,  and  kings,"  will  be  in  many 
things  but  the  old  sad  story. 


THE  TWO  WITNESSES  AND  THE 
SEVENTH   TRUMPET. 

1-2.  The  Measurement  of  the  Temple. 

I.  And  there  was  given  me  a  reed  like 
unto  a  rod.  In  Ezekiel  (■»o:i-3),  and  in 
Zechariah  (^-^n),  we  have  what  may  be,  to 
some  extent,  illustrative  of  these  opening 
words  of  a  new  chapter,  introducing  a  new 
series  of  visions.  In  Ezekiel,  the  prophet  is 
met  by  a  man  "with  a  line  of  ffax  in  his 
hand,  and  a  measuring  reed."  These  were 
for  the  measurement  of  the  temple,  in  its 
various  parts,  symbolizing  thus  the  divine 
order  and  proportion  of  that  si)iritual  temple 
of  which  the  material  temple  was  a  type. 
The  "man  with  a  measuring  line  in  his 
hand,"   seen    by    Zechariah,    goes    forth    to 


I  measure  Jerusalem  itself,  "to  see  what  is  the 
I  breadth  thereof,  and  what  is  the  length 
I  thereof."  The  reason  of  this  is  explained  in 
j  the  fifth  verse  of  the  chapter:  "  For  I,  saith 
the  Lord,  will  be  unto  her  a  wall  of  fire, 
I  round  about,  and  will  be  the  glory  in  the 
midst  of  her."  This  measurement  of  the  city 
was  a  symbol  of  protection,  marking  out  the 
"metes  and  bounds"  within  which  God 
should  have  his  own  especial  dwelling,  while 
to  those  abiding  there  with  him,  peace  and 
safety  should  be  made  sure.  The  prophetic 
method  here  used  is  again  employed  in  the 
imagery  of  our  present  passage.  It  is  another 
example  of  the  manner  in  which  the  symbol- 
ism of  the  older  Dispensation  is  reproduced 
in  the  Apocalypse  of  the  New.  The  measur- 
ing reed,  here,  is  "  like  a  rod,"  or  staff  (pipSw). 
Bishop  Wordsworth,  quite  too  fancifully, 
makes  this  reed,  or  rod,  a  symbol  of  "the 
Scripture,"  and  views  the  rod  as  a  "rod  of 
iron,"  like  that  mentioned  inch.  2:  27.  "It 
measures,"  he  says,  "like  a  reed,  yet  is  not 
frail  and  quivering  as  a  reed  ...  a  rod  of 
iron,  which  cannot  be  bent  or  broken,  but  will 
break  its  foes  in  pieces,  like  a  potter's  vessel." 
There  is,  surely,  nothing  of  all  this  in  the 
passage  itself — And  the  angel  stood.  This 
must  be  thrown  out  in  the  translation.  There 
is  no  good  authority  for  the  words,  and  in  all 
the  later  revisions  they  are  omitted. — Say- 
ing, Rise  and  measure  the  temple  of 
God.  The  Sinaitic  manuscript  has,  "he 
saith,"  or  "one  saith"  (Aeyei),  in.stead  of 
"saying"  (Xiyuiv).  The  text  given  by  West- 
cott  and  Hort,  in  their  scholarly  recension, 
retains  the  latter  form.  The  revised  version 
translates,  as  will  be  .seen,  "one  said." 
Wordsworth,  retaining  the  participle  and 
translating  literally,  reads,  "And  there  was 
given  me  a  reed,  like  unto  a  rod,  saying, 
Rise  and  measure,"  etc.  He  then  makes, 
ui)()n  the  verse,  this  singular  comment :  "The 
reed  speaks.  It  is  inspired.  The  Spirit  is 
in  it.  It  is  the  word  of  God.  And  it  meas- 
ures the  church:  the  Canon  of  Scrijiture  is 
the  rule  of  faith."     Something  like  this,  also, 


Ch.  XI.] 


REVELATION. 


151 


2  But  "the  court,  which  is  without  the  temple  leave 
out,  and  measure  it  not ;  ''lor  it  is  given  unto  the  Gen- 
tiles: and  the  holy  city  shall  they  "tread  under  loot 
•'forty  and  two  months. 


2  the  altar,  and  them  that  worship  therein.  And  the 
court  which  is  without  the  temple  i  leave  without, 
and  measure  it  not;  for  it  hath  been  given  uiUo  the 
nations:   and  the  holy  city  shall  they  tread  under 


aV.zeX.  40:  17,  20 6  Ps.  79:  1;  Luke  21:  24 c  Dan.  8:10 d  ch.  13:  5. 1  Gt.  cast  without. 


is  Bengel's  idea.  Alford  and  Ellicott  take 
the  form  of  the  expression  as  simply  one  of 
those  peculiarities  of  construction  not  uncom- 
mon in  this  book,  and  purp  isely  made 
indefinite.  In  order  to  make  good  English, 
it  seems  necessary  to  render  somewhat  para- 
phrastically,  as  in  fact  the  revision  appears 
to  do,  making  the  clause  stand,  "and  one 
said."  The  person  speaking  is  not  indicated, 
neither  is  it  intimated  by  whom  the  reed  is 
given.  A  personal  element,  however,  comes 
in  at  ver.  3,  where  the  voice  speaking,  says: 
"/will  give  power  unto  my  two  witnesses." 
If  we  were  to  guide  ourselves  by  this  alone, 
we  might  conclude  that  it  is  the  Lord  him- 
self who  speaks.  The  allusion  in  the  eighth 
verse  to  the  crucifixion  of  the  Lord  may  be 
thought  to  interpose  a  difficulty.  We  may 
say,  however,  that  quite  clearly  the  voice 
which  speaks  is  either  that  of  Christ,  or  that 
of  one  who,  like  the  "strong  angel"  in 
ch.  X.,  represents  him.  Upon  the  signifi- 
cance given  to  the  command  to  "measure 
the  temple  of  God,"  much  depends.  We 
must  keep  in  mind  that  in  the  Greek  there 
are  two  words  for  "temple" — {Up6v  and  •'oos). 
Of  these  two  words,  Ellicott  says  that  the 
former  signifies  the  whole  compass  of  the 
temple  enclosure,  including  the  outer  courts, 
porches,  porticoes,  and  other  buildings  sub- 
ordinated to  the  temple  itself;  while  the 
latter  denotes  "the  temple  itself,  the  house 
of  God,  the  holy  of  holies."  The  word 
used  here  is  the  latter  (va6<;).  What  is 
meant,  therefore,  in  this  place  by  the  tem- 
ple, is  that  inner,  most  sacred  portion  of 
the  building,  which  was  especially  known 
as  "the  sanctuary,"  and  which  enshrined 
those  types  of  better  things  to  come  that 
were  themselves  so  sacred  and  so  precious. 
What  is  implied  in  this  symbolism  will  be 
noticed  directly. — And  the  altar.  Does  this 
mean  the  altar  of  incense  simply?  Or  is  it 
intended  to  include  with  this  the  altar  of 
burnt-oflfering  as  well,  standing  just  without 
the  holy  place?  Alford  thinks  we  need  not 
be  "too  minute  in  particularizing."  Ellicott 
gays  that  "the  explicit  direction  to  measure 


the  altar  sounds  like  an  extension  of  the 
measured  area,  and  may  mean  that  some 
portion  of  the  court  reserved  for  Israel  is  to 
be  included  in  the  measurement."  This,  in 
fact,  may  seem  to  be  implied  in  what  follows. 
For  the  measurement  is  to  include  the  tem- 
ple, the  altar,  and  them  that  worship 
therein.  Adjoining  the  Holy  Place,  in  the 
ancient  temple,  was  the  Court  of  Israel, 
where  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  stood, 
and  where  the  worshipers  chiefly  congre- 
gated. Ellicott' s  caution  that  we  do  not  seek 
"to  settle  too  definitely,"  is  judicious.  It  is 
enough,  as  he  says,  "that  everything  neces- 
sary to  the  worship— temple,  altar,  worshipers 
— all  are  reserved."  There  seems  no  reason 
why  we  should  attempt  the  determination  of 
more  than  this. 

2.  But  the  court  which  is  without  the 
temple  leave  out,  and  measure  it  not. 
The  word  used  (ex/SaAe)  has  a  stronger  mean- 
ing than  simply  leave  out;  "cr/s^  o«f,"  is  its 
more  exact  signification.  The  idea  seems  to 
be  that  this  outer  court,  thus  left  unmeasured, 
is  to  be  regarded  as  something  profone,  and 
in  strong  contrast  with  that  inner  sanctuary 
so  preferred,  as  the  whole  direction  given  im- 
plies. The  significance  of  this  will  appear 
when  we  come  to  notice  more  fully  the  mean- 
ing and  intention  of  this  act  of  "measuring." 
— For  it  is  given  unto  the  Gentiles.  The 
word,  "Gentiles,"  is  not  used  here  in  its 
literal  sense,  but  in  a  symbolical  one,  as  is 
the  case  with  Babylon,  Jerusalem,  and  with 
the  word  Israel,  even.  By  the  temple,  in 
this  passage,  we  understand  that  which  in 
the  typical  system  of  the  Old  Dispensation, 
the  ancient  temple — the  inner  temple  (vaos) 
especially — always  prefigured ;  that  is  to  say, 
the  church  of  God,  in  its  high  spiritual  sense. 
The  worshipers,  here,  are  they  that  worship 
God  "in  spirit  and  in  truth"  ;  they  are  the 
true  Israel.  The  "Gentiles"  are  they  who 
are  not  of  this  true  Israel;  those  who,  what- 
ever may  be  their  profession,  hold  in  truth,, 
and  really,  the  same  attitude  toward  God's 
true  people  as  the  hostile  Gentile  world  in  the 
more  ancient  times  held. — And  the  holy  city 


152 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XI. 


3  And  I  will  give  poicer  unto  my  two  "witnesses,  '  and 
they  shall  prophesy  <^a  thousand  two  hundred  and 
threescore  days,  clothed  in  sackcloth. 


3  foot  forty  and  two  months.  And  I  will  give  unto 
my  two  witnesses,  and  they  shall  prophesy  a  thou- 
sand two  hundred  and  threescore  days,  clothed  in 


ach.-.!0:4 6  ch.  19: 10....C  ch.  12:6. 


shall  they  tread  under  foot.  Carrying  out 
the  symbolism  of  the  temple,  it  is  viewed  as 
if,  like  the  ancient,  literal,  temple,  it  had  in 
its  environment  a  city  which  is  in  some  sort 
identified  with  it.  It  is  as  if  the  courts  so 
left  out  of  the  measurement  broaden  away  so 
as  to  take  in  the  whole  city.  These  "Gen- 
tiles"— persons  possessed  of  the  Gentile  spirit, 
worldly,  corrupt,  hostile  to  all  true  religion 
and  to  the  true  Israel — throng,  not  only  the 
outer  court,  but  the  city ;  and  in  their  rude- 
ness and  violence  "tread  it  under  foot,"  as 
the  Gentile  enemy,  Assyrian,  Babylonian, 
Roman,  were  wont  to  tread  down  Jerusalem 
itself,  when  they  had  forced  their  way  in. — 
Forty  and  two  months.  We  reserve,  for 
the  present,  what  we  are  to  say  of  this  indi- 
cation of  a  period  during  which  the  treading 
under  foot  shall  last. 

Gathering  up,  now,  what  has  appeared  in 
the  course  of  our  exposition,  thus  far,  we 
take  the  measuring  in  this  place  as  similar  in 
its  symbolical  significance,  to  the  measuring 
mentioned  in  Zechariah,  as  noted  above,  and 
so  to  the  sealing  described  in  ch.  7 :  3.  The 
servants  of  God  are  in  the  latter  place  spoken 
of  as  sealed  in  their  forehead — made  to  bear  a 
mark,  or  token,  thus  conspicuously,  in  order 
that  they  might  be  known  as  the  servants  of 
God,  and  be  kept  safe  amidst  the  calamities 
about  to  come  upon  the  world.  In  the  present 
case,  however,  the  Lord's  true  people  are 
viewed,  not  so  much  individually,  as  in  the 
former  one,  but  more  in  their  organic,  or 
at  least  their  collective  capacity  as  the  true 
church  of  God.  Their  separation  from,  not 
only  the  world,  but  from  what  is  corrupt  and 
evil  in  the  nominal  church  itself,  and  their 
security  under  divine  protection,  are  now  to 
be  indicated.  They  appear  in  the  Apocalyp- 
tic vision  under  the  symbol  of  that  sanctuary 
— th(!  Holy  and  the  Holy  of  Holies — which  in 
ancient  times  forshadowed  in  expressive  type 
the  true  church  of  God.  These  are  that  true 
church.  But  the  symbolical  act  of  sealing, 
aj)i)lied  to  an  individual,  loses  its  significance 
if  applied  to  a  temple.  The  more  suitable 
form  of  the  act  is  a  mea.snrinf/,  a  setting  apart 
of  that  portion  of  the  whole  building  which 
is  sacred  and  safe.     The  procedure  described. 


then,  sets  forth  the  truth  that  even  when  the 
great  body  of  the  nominal  church  becomes 
corrupt,  ruled  by  the  Gentile  spirit,  in  its 
real  nature  profane  and  vile,  there  is  still  a 
true  church,  surviving  and  safe,  "kept  by 
the  power  of  God,  through  faith."  The  meas- 
uring of  the  altar — meaning,  alike,  it  should 
seem,  the  altar  of  incense  and  the  altar  of 
burnt-offering— implies  that  those  matters  of 
faith  which  the  altar  sets  forth  in  type— the 
blood  of  atonement,  shed  for  the  remission 
of  sins,  the  intercession  of  the  Great  High 
Priest,  efficacious  prayer,  borne  heavenward 
on  the  wings  of  that  intercession  and  made 
acceptable  because  perfumed  by  the  incense 
of  prevailing  mediation — these  and  other  veri- 
ties of  faith  are  sheltered  by  the  same  act 
of  consecrating  separation,  and  survive,  even 
amidst  general  corruption,  and  whatever  the 
tumult  raging  without.  The  general  idea 
here,  therefore,  is  the  same  that  meets  us 
elsewhere — in  the  hundred  and  forty  and  four 
thousand  of  the  sealed,  described  in  chapter 
seven,  and  the  same  number  as  they  appear 
with  the  Lamb  on  Mount  Zion  (ch.  u-.  i),  "hav- 
ing his  Father's  name  written  in  their  fore- 
heads." Only,  here,  these  "called,  and 
chosen,  and  faithful"  are  seen  as  the  church 
within  the  church,  the  Holy  of  Holies  (va6^) 
within  the  temple  (Updi'),  the  pure  and  true 
"remnant,"  surviving  amidst  general  apos- 
tasy and  corruption.  For  where  it  is  said 
of  those  without  that  they  shall  tread  the 
holy  city  under  foot,  it  is  implied  that  with 
these  is  the  multitude,  and  with  those  who 
worship  in  the  "sanctuary"  are  the  faithful 
few. 

3-13.  The  Two  Witnessks. 

3.  And  I  will  giye  power  unto  my  two 
witnesses.  The  literal  rendering  would  be: 
"I  will  give  to  my  two  witnesses."  The 
word  for  "power"  is  not  in  the  Greek;  but 
it  seems  to  be  implied.  The  variety  of  inter- 
pretations given  to  the  passage  we  are  now  to 
take  up,  is  almost  bewildering.  And,  indeed, 
the  identifying  of  these  two  witnesses  is  a 
matter  of  no  little  difficulty.  Wordsworth 
unchirstands  by  tlie  witnesses  the  two  great 
parts  of  Scripture — the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments.    Lange  regards  them  as  the  Christian 


Ch.  XI.] 


REVELATION. 


153 


4  These  are  the  "two  olive  trees,  and  the  two  candle- 
gticks,  standing  before  the  God  of  the  earth. 


4  sackcloth.     These  are  the  two  olive  trees  and  the 
two  1  candlesticks,  standing  before  the  Lord  of  the 


o  Ps.  52  :  8 ;  Jer.  11 :  16 ;  Zech.  4 :  3,  11,  14. 1  Gr.  lampatands. 


Church  and  the  Christian  State.  Stuart,  who 
treats  the  whole  of  this  part  of  the  book  as 
fulfilled  in  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  re- 
gards what  is  said  here  of  the  two  witnesses, 
as  setting  forth  in  symbol  "that  God  would 
raise  up  faithful  and  well-endowed  preachers 
among  the  Jews  at  the  period  when  the 
nation  were  ready  to  perish ;  that  those 
preachers  would  be  persecuted  and  destroyed ; 
and  after  all  that  the  Christian  cause  would 
still  be  triumphant."  The  two  witnesses  have 
also  been  variously  identified  with  Christ  and 
John  the  Baptist,  with  St.  Francis  and  St. 
Domihick,  heads  of  the  two  great  orders  of 
monks;  with  John  Huss  and  Luther,  with 
the  Waldenses  and  the  Albigenses,  with  the 
Law  and  the  Gospel,  with  Jewish  and  Gentile 
Christians,  etc.  Alford  declines  all  attempt 
at  identification.  Carpenter's  remark,  in 
Ellicott,  is:  "The  two  witnesses  stand  as  tbe 
typical  representatives  of  those  who,  in  the 
strength  of  God,  have,  through  long  ages, 
borne  witness  for  Christ  against  all  wrong 
and  falsehood,  against  a  world  in  arms  or  a 
church  in  error,  or  against  a  nominal  Chris- 
tianity in  danger  of  becoming  as  corrupt  and 
as  cruel  as  heathenism.  Such  witnesses  stand, 
like  the  two  columns,  Jachin  and  Boaz, 
before  the  true  temple  of  God."  In  studying 
the  passage  for  ourselves,  we  prefer  to  notice 
first  the  several  parts  of  it,  with  the  details  of 
description  given,  and  to  state  our  own  im- 
pression of  its  meaning  in  a  final  summary. 
The  reason  for  the  view  we  take  may  thus, 
perhaps,  be  more  clearly  and  fully  presented. 
— And  they  shall  prophesy  a  thousand 
two  hundred  and  three-score  days, 
clothed  in  sackcloth.  Assuming  that  the 
prophetic  day,  here,  means  a  year,  we  have 
in  the  12tjO  days  the  same  number  of  years  as 
in  the  forty-two  months  named  above — 42X 
30^1260.  We  do  not  discuss  here  the  ques- 
tion of  identity  in  these  two  periods,  reserv- 
ing that  point,  again,  for  consideration  further 
on. — Clothed  in  sackcloth.  In  these  words 
we  have  the  first  of  those  details  of  descrip- 
tion which  may  help  us  in  the  attempt  to 
identify  the  witnesses — so  far  as  we  attempt 
this  at  all.     Sackcloth  was  the  dress  worn  by 


Elijah,  that  one  of  the  prophets  who,  more 
than  any  other,  was  the  type  of  faithful  wit- 
ness for  God  in  a  time  of  general  backsliding 
and  apostasy. 

4.  These  are  the  two  olive  trees,  and 
the  two  candlesticks,  standing  before 
the  God  of  the  earth.  "Before  the  Lord 
of  the  earth,"  is  the  more  correct  reading. 
We  here  have  another  Old  Testament  allu- 
sion. The  reference  is  to  Zechariah  4 ;  2-14, 
where  we  read  of  the  golden  candlestick  and 
the  two  olive  trees.  In  our  present  passage, 
however,  we  have  two  candlesticks  and  two 
olive  trees.  The  meaning  seeins  to  be  that 
alike  what  was  symbolized  in  the  candlestick 
in  Zechariah,  and  that  which  was  symbolized 
in  the  olive  trees,  is  implied  again  in  the  two 
witnesses.  Not  that  the  exact  meaning  in  the 
older  and  in  the  later  prophecy  is  the  same, 
but  that  the  resembling  symbols  in  the  two 
have  a  like  5'ewer«^ significance.  In  the  con- 
nection of  the  passage  in  Zechariah  we  read 
of  two  official  personages,  Joshua — the  high- 
priest,  representing  the  spiritual  order  of  the 
nation,  and  Zerubbabel,  the  governor  of  Je- 
rusalem, representing  the  civil  order.  The 
candlesticks,  "all  of  gold,"  seem  to  sjnnbolize 
the  theocracy,  or  the  economy  of  the  nation 
in  its  blended  character  as  alike  spiritual  and 
secular;  while  by  the  two  f)live  trees  are  to  be 
understood  the  two  representative  persons 
just  named  in  their  official  capacity;  yet 
these  as  being  simply  the  channels  through 
which  divine  favor  should  flow  to  the  people; 
for  it  is  not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  not  by 
outward  order  or  official  function,  "but  by 
my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  The 
symbolism,  as  a  whole,  then,  represents  the 
national  system,  itself,  as  a  theocracy,  a  divine 
institution,  made  efficient  to  its  end  by  divine 
efficiencies  imparted  to  it  through  instituted 
agencies.  The  emphatic  feature  of  the  sj-m- 
bolism  is  not  the  dual  character  of  tlic  parts 
seen  in  it,  but  the  deep,  underlying  signifi- 
cance of  the  whole,  as  representing  a  divine 
institution,  preserved  by  divine  care,  and 
made  efficient  through  divine  power.  This 
general  symbolism  with  a  like  significance  is 
represented  in  our  present  passage. 


154 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XI. 


5  And  if  any  man  will  hurt  them,  "fire  proceedeth 
out  of  their  mouth,  and  devoureth  their  enemies:  'and 
if  anv  man  will  hurt  them,  he  must  in  this  manner  be 
killed. 

6  These  'have  power  to  shut  heaven,  that  it  rain  not 
in  tlic  days  of  their  pr<)i)heey:  and ''have  power  over 
waters  toturn  them  to  blood,  and  to  smite  the  earth 
with  all  plagues,  as  often  as  they  will. 


5  earth.  And  if  any  man  desireth  to  hurt  them,  fire 
proceedeth  out  of  their  mouth,  and  devoureth  theii 
enemies:  and  if  any  man  shall  desire  to  hurt  them, 

6  in  this  manner  mu.st  he  be  killed.  These  have  the 
power  to  shut  the  heaven,  that  it  rain  not  during 
the  days  of  the  prophecy :  and  they  have  power  over 
the  waters  to  turn  them  into  blood,  and  to  .smite  the 
earth  with  every  plague,  as  often  as  they  shall  desire. 


a  2  Uiiigs  1:  10,  12;  Jer.  1:  10;  5:  U;  Ezek.  43  :  3  ;  Hoseu6:  5 h  Num.  16: 


.cl  Kings  17:1;  James  5:  16,  IT. ..  .d  Ex.  T  :  19. 


5.  And  if  any  man  will  hurt  them,  fire 
proceedeth  out  of  their  mouth,  and  de- 
voureth their  enemies ;  and  if  any  man 
A%'ill  hurt  them,  he  must  in  this  manner 
be  killed.  The  revisers  read,  as  will  be  no- 
ticed, "  If  any  man  desireth  to  hurt  them.  .  .  . 
if  any  man  shall  desire  to  hurt  them,"  etc. 
In  the  second  condition  the  construction  of 
the  Greek  is  peculiar,  not  classic.  We  are 
here  reminded  of  an  incident  in  the  life  of 
Elijah  (2  Kings  1: 10),  when  two  captains  with 
their  "fifties"  were  destroyed  by  fire  from 
heaven  as  they  came  to  take  the  prophet 
prisoner,  by  command  of  the  idolatrous  king 
Ahaziah.  In  Jer.  5:  14,  it  is  said  to  the  pro- 
phet: "  Because  ye  speak  this  word,  behold  I 
will  make  my  words  in  thy  mouth  fire,  and 
this  people  wood,  and  it  shall  devour  them." 
The  Old  Testament  cast  of  this  allusion  in  the 
words  now  studied  is  evident.  We  also  re- 
memberour  Lord's  word  of  promise  (Luke  lO:  19): 
"  Behold,  I  have  given  you  authority  to  tread 
upon  serpents  and  scorpions,  and  over  all  the 
power  of  the  enemy,  and  nothing  shall  in 
any  wise  hurt  you."  God's  "witnesses,"  in 
whatever  age  or  dispensation,  have  been  un- 
der his  peculiar  care,  and  the  violence  and 
cruelty  of  their  enemies  have  follen  back 
upon  themselves.  The  imagery  in  the  Apoc- 
alyptic promise  to  that  eflfect  simply  presents 
in  a  vivid  way  this  truth. 

6.  These  have  power  to  shut  heaven, 
that  it  rain  not  in  the  days  of  their  pro- 
phecy. A  manife.st  allusion  to  the  drought 
and  famine,  three  years  in  duration,  in  the 
time  of  Elijah. — And  have  power  over  wa- 
ters to  turn  them  to  blood,  and  to  smite 
the  earth  with  all  plagues,  as  often  as 
they  will.  Sucli  Moses  had,  as  a  messenger 
of  God  and  "witne.ss"  to  Pharaoh. 

The  clue  to  the  difficulties  of  our  passage, 
now,  seem  to  be  found  in  these  several  allu- 
sions. If  we  couple  with  them  the  rule  of  the 
ancient  economy,  that  in  the  mouth  of  not 
less  tlian  two  witnesses  everything  must  be 
established,  and  also  remember  how  our  Lord, 


when  he  sent  forth  his  first  witnesses,  sent 
them  "two  and  two,"  we  need  not  be  long 
seriously  at  a  loss  how  to  understand  the 
"two  witnesses"  in  this  chapter.  Those  who 
have  sought  to  find  an  exact  representative  of 
the  dualism  here,  appear  to  have  overlooked 
the  fact  that  we  are  dealing  with  symbols, 
not  with  exact  numbers.  The  "two"  wit- 
nesses represent  the  idea  of  that  adequate  tes- 
timony for  which  God  makes  provision  in 
giving  his  truth  to  mankind.  And  so,  by  the 
"two  witnesses"  we  understand  to  be  meant 
all  true  witness  for  God,  especially  during  a 
certain  express  period  here  held  in  view, 
whether  this  witness  be  in  personal  testimony, 
in  public  ministry,  in  ordinances,  in  institu- 
tions, alike  of  the  Christian  Church  and  the 
Christian  State — in  all  the  various  forms  which 
he  causes  testimony  in  behalf  of  his  own  sure 
word  to  have.  In  manj-  of  these,  indeed,  we 
trace  a  dualism  which  need  not  be  passed 
without  notice;  such  as  the  two  parts  of 
Scripture,  Old  Testament  and  New ;  the  two 
Ordinances,  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper ; 
the  two  permanent  offiices  in  the  church,  the 
Pastorate  and  the  Diaconate ;  the  two  or- 
ganized forms  under  which  Chri.stianity  estab- 
lishes itself  in  the  world — a  true  Ecclesias- 
ticism,  and  a  pure  Civilization.  Personal 
dualism,  too,  may  be  traced :  as  those  witnesses 
to  a  pure  Christianity  in  the  West,  whose  his- 
tory we  trace  in  Northern  Italy  and  Southern 
France,  as  well  as  in  Britain,  during  the 
earlier  Christian  centuries;  and  those  in  the 
■East,  like  the  Paulieians.  Again,  the  Wal- 
denses  and  the  Albigenses  may  be  named, 
the  two  historical  bodies  of  Dissenters  during 
the  middle  ages.  The  Reformation  itself 
went  forward  under  two  chief  leaders,  Luther 
and  Calvin  ;  and  wherever  prevailing,  it  has 
organized  itself  more  or  less  as  recognizing 
them  in  this  light.  These  dualisms  are  no 
doubt  providential,  and  may,  some  or  all  of 
them,  be  regarded  as  more  or  less  implied  in 
what  we  read,  in  our  passage,  of  the  "two 
witnesses."   Neither  group,  however,  answers 


Ch.  XI.] 


KEVELATIOK 


155 


7  And  when  they  "shall  have  finished  their  testi- 
mony, 'the  beast  that  ascendeth  •'out  of  the  bottomless 
pit  ''shall  make  war  against  them,  and  shall  overcome 
them,  and  kill  them. 

8  And  their  dead  bodies  xhnll  lie  in  the  street  of  ethe 
great  city,  which  spiritually  is  called  Sodom  and  Egypt, 
/where  also  our  Lord  was  crucified. 


7  And  when  they  shall  have  finished  their  testimony, 
the  beast  that  cometh  up  out  of  the  abyss  shall  make 
war  with  them,  and  overcome  theui,  and  kill  them. 

8  And  their  idead  bodies  lU  in  the  street  of  the  great 
city,  which  spiritually  is  called  Sodom  and  Egypt, 


the  conditions  of  an  adequate  exposition  of 
the  passage.  It  is  as  we  group  them  all,  in 
the  idea  of  a  general  witness  and  testimony 
in  behalf  of  God  and  a  true  Christianity, 
that  we  seem  to  be  on  safe  ground. 

7,  And  when  they  shall  have  finished 
their  testimony,  the  beast  that  ascend- 
eth out  of  the  bottomless  pit  [the  abyss] 
shall  make  war  against  them.  The  word 
for  "beast"  {drtpiov),  means  "wild  beast";  a 
term  significant  of  ferocity  and  destructive- 
ness.  This  wild  beast  is  here  mentioned  in 
an  anticipatory  way,  it  being  the  same  beast, 
evidently,  that  is  more  specifically  mentioned 
in  13 :  1,  in  17 :  8,  and  in  other  places.  In 
ch.  17 :  8,  he  is  spoken  of  in  the  same  way  as 
here,  as  ascending  out  of  the  abyss  ;  meaning 
that  same  abyss  mentioned  in  chapter  nine, 
out  of  which  the  swarming  locusts  come.  In 
ch.  13:  1,  however,  he  is  said  to  ascend  "out 
of  the  sea."  In  gaining  a  true  idea  of  the 
"wild  beast,  here,  we  shall  need  to  unite  these 
two  representations;  in  the  one  of  which  is 
implied  his  Satanic  spirit,  and  in  the  other 
his  connection  with  the  turbulence  and  an- 
archy of  the  world.  It  is  generally  agreed 
to  understand  by  this  formidable  appearance 
the  antichristian  power,  in  general,  alike 
as  a  persecuting  Paganism  and  a  persecuting 
Ecclesiasticism  calling  itself  Christian.  In 
13 :  2,  it  is  said  that  the  dragon,  or  Satan, 
described  in  chapter  twelve,  gave  to  the 
beast  "his  power,  and  his  seat,  and  great 
authority."  Satan,  in  fighting  the  kingdom 
of  God,  uses  the  forces  and  organisms  of  this 
world,  whether  they  take  the  form  of  hie- 
rarchy, or  that  of  imperialism.  This  anti- 
christian force,  of  which  we  shall  have  much 
to  say  in  subsequent  expositions,  is  the  wild 
beast  of  our  present  text.  By  him,  war  is 
made  against  the  witnesses,  and  they  are 
killed.  Now,  in  that  connection,  what  mean- 
ing shall  we  give  to  the  words,  "And  when 
they  shall  have  finished  their  testimony"? 
If  thej'  must  be  taken  absolutely,  and  so 
imply  a  complete  and  final  finishing  of  the 


testimony  of  the  witnesses,  we  seem  neces- 
sarily taken  forward  to  the  end  of  the  Dispen- 
sation, since  "the  witnessing  church"  will 
finish  its  testimony  then  only.  We  are  not 
obliged,  however,  to  take  the  words  in  this 
absolute  sense.  "If,"  says  Carpenter,  in 
Ellicott,  "the  witnesses  are  those  who  have 
taught  the  principles  of  a  spiritual  and  social 
religion,  the  death  of  the  witnesses  following 
their  overthrow  signifies  the  triumph  of  op- 
posing principles,  the  silencing  of  those  who 
have  withstood  the  growing  current  of  evil." 
There  have  been  these  crises  in  the  history  of 
God's  kingdom  among  men,  and  notably  in 
Christian  history  —  crises  when  those  who 
represented  this  wit.ness  for  God  and  his  truth 
have  borne  their  testimony  so  fully,  during  a 
period  which  would  seem  to  have  been 
especially  allotted  them,  that  it  may  with 
truth  be  called  "finished."  The  crisis  of 
this  nature,  to  which  we  suppose  especial 
reference  to  be  here  made,  will  be  noticed 
further  on. — And  shall  overcome  them, 
and  kill  them.  The  war  of  the  wild  beast 
upon  the  witnesses  is  to  be  interpreted  con- 
sistently with  the  symbolical  dress  of  the 
whole  passage.  It  is  the  assault  of  the  anti- 
christian principle,  represented  by  some  per- 
secuting power  in  which  it  finds  embodiment, 
upon  that  which  is  Christian,  whether  on  its 
part  represented  in  Christian  truth.  Christian 
institutions,  or  Christians  themselves.  This 
assault,  in  the  symbolism  of  the  passage, 
assumes  a  form  which  makes  it  especially 
deadly,  and  is  so  helped  by  existing  condi- 
tions, as  that  it  gains  a  short-lived  triumph. 

8.  And  their  dead  bodies  shall  lie  in 
the  street  of  the  great  city,  which  spirit- 
ually is  called  Sodom  and  Egypt.  The 
Avord  translated  "dead  bodies"  (irroi^a),  is  in  the 
singular.  Diisterdieck  represents  this  word 
(TTTu/na,  from  jTiTTTio,  ^ ^  to  fali)  by  the  German 
word  ''^ ffefallene,"  something  "fallen,"  or 
"wrecked."  Subsequent  allusions,  however, 
require  that  we  shall  use  the  word  in  its 
strongest  sense.     Upon  the  singular  form  of 


IfjQ 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XI. 


9  "And  they  of  the  people  and  kindreds  and  tongues 
and  nations  shall  see  their  dead  bodies  three  days  and 
a  halt,  I- and  shall  not  sutler  their  dead  bodies  to  be  put 
in  graves. 


9  where  also  their  Lord  was  crucified.  And  from 
among  the  peoples  and  tribes  and  tongues  and  na- 
tions do  men  look  upon  their  Ulead  bodies  three  days 
and  a  half,  and  suffer  not  their  dead  bodies  to  be  laid 


ich.  17:  15 6  Ps.  79:  2,3. 1  Gr.  carcase. 


the  word  the  Speaker's  Commentary  says: 
"The  singuhir  is  used  collectively";  and 
Bishop  AVordsworth,  "they  [the  witnesses] 
are  two  and  yet  one."  But  how  shall  we 
understand  "the  great  city"  ?  Various  inter- 
pretations are  given.  Stuart,  of  course,  con- 
sistently with  his  general  theory,  under- 
stands by  it  the  city  of  Jerusalem.  Elliott, 
who  adopts  throughout  a  system  of  historical 
literalism,  thinks  Rome  is  meant.  Carpenter, 
in  EUicott,  says:  "The  city  is  great,  for  it  is 
all-important  in  the  eyes  of  its  inhabitants, 
as  public  opinion  is  all-important  to  the  weak 
and  worldly ;  it  is  Sodom,  for  it  is  the  place 
where,  through  pleasure  and  luxuriousness 
(fullness  of  bread)  the  worst  forms  of  immo- 
rality take  root ;  it  is  Egypt,  for  it  is  the  house 
of  bondage,  where  the  wages  of  sin  become 
tyrannous;  it  is  Jerusalem,  for  it  is  the  apos- 
tate place  where  the  presence  of  Christ  is 
hated."  We  think  it  possible  to  preserve,  as 
here,  the  symbolism  of  the  passage,  and  still 
give  the  interpretation  a  form  more  simple 
and  specific.  There  is  an  evident  connection 
between  the  measured  temple  and  "the  great 
city"  now  mentioned.  This  is  the  more  evi- 
dent as  we  ob-serve  the  words  immediately 
following.— Where  our  [their]  Lord  also 
was  crucified.  The  reference  to  Jerusalem 
is  unmistakable.  This  city,  in  the  symbol- 
ism of  the  chapter,  is  trodden  under  foot  by 
the  Gentiles,  "the  nations."  In  other  words, 
what  was  once  "the  holy  city"  is  taken  pos- 
session of  by  the  godless  and  the  wicked,  and 
becomes,  through  them,  transformed  to  a 
"spiritual"  Sodom  and  Egypt;  corrupted  by 
sensuality,  and  turned  by  persecution  into  a 
house  of  bondage.  This  imagery  is  perfectly 
consistent  with  that  which  rejiresents  the  true 
church  of  God,  "measured,"  sacred  and  safe, 
by  the  inner  temple  of  the  sanctuary,  while 
the  courts  without  and  the  city  itself  are 
seized  and  held  by  the  enemy.  By  the 
measured  temple,  therefore,  we  understand 
that  faithful  remnant  with  whom  is  the  true 
church;  by  the  courts  without,  and  the  cit^', 
we  understand  the  antichristian  apostasy — 
Papal  Rome.     Those  who,  in  one  place  in  the 


chapter,  are  represented  as  the  temple,  are  in 
other  places  the  witnesses.  In  the  verse  now 
considered,  they  are  seen,  after  having  borne 
faithful  testimony  during  this  allotted  period 
— during  the  period  in  which  they  were  to 
testify,  "clothed  in  sackcloth";  that  is  to 
say,  in  circumstances  of  continual  danger 
and  distress — this  being  now  "finished,"  they 
are  seen  slain  by  their  enemies,  while  their 
unburied  bodies  lie  in  the  streets  of  the  city. 
The  words,  "where  also  our  Lord  was  cruci- 
fied," are  evidently  meant  to  suggest  their 
fellowship  with  him  in  suffering,  even  unto 
death ;  a  parallelism  of  which  further  use  is 
made  in  subsequent  verses. 

9.  And  they  of  the  people  and  kin- 
dreds [tribes]  and  tongues  and  nations 
shall  see  their  dead  bodies  three  days 
and  a  half.  This  enumeration  of  people, 
tribes,  tongues,  and  nation.s,  shows  how  wide- 
spread the  operation  of  the  antichristian  priur 
ciple  was  to  be.  What  we  have  to  say  of  the 
interval  of  three  days  and  a  half,  here  named, 
we  prefer  to  reserve  for  the  General  Com- 
ments. Some  writers  note  how  nearly  identi- 
cal is  this  interval  of  time  with  that  during 
which  our  Lord  himself  lay  in  his  tomb  after 
the  crucifixion  ;  an  identity  which  might  de- 
rive significance  from  the  mention,  just  made, 
of  the  crucifixion  itself. — And  shall  not  suf- 
fer their  dead  bodies  to  be  put  in  graves. 
We  ought  to  mention  that  the  verbs  in  this 
and  the  connected  verses  which  have  the 
future  tense  in  the  common  version,  in  the 
best  Greek  text  are  in  the  present.  We  should 
read,  ^^ look  upon  the\r  dead  bodies,"  ^^dotwt 
suffer" ;  and  so  the  verb  supplied  in  the  eighth 
verse,  "Their  dead  bodies  lie  in  the  streets  of 
the  great  city,"  etc.  In  like  manner  the  verbs 
used  in  ver.  10.  What  is  mentioned  in  the 
clause  of  the  ninth  verse  now  under  consid- 
eration, "suffer  not  their  dead  bodies  to  be 
laid  i  n  the  tomb  ' '  ( Revised  Version),  shows  the 
inveteracy  of  the  hostility.  It  had  not  only 
prompted  the  murdering  of  the  witnesses,  but 
now  jirompts  to  that  indignity  toward  them, 
as  dead,  which,  acc(U'ding  to  the  ideas  of  the 
ancient  world,  was  the  last  and  worst.      The 


Ch.  XL] 


KEVELATIOK 


157 


10  "And  they  that  dwell  upon  the  earth  shall  rejoice 
over  them,  and  make  merry,  'and  shall  send  gifts  one 
to  another;  "^because  these  two  prophets  tormented 
them  that  dwelt  on  the  earth. 

11  ''And  after  three  days  and  a  half  «the  Spirit  of 
life  from  God  entered  into  them,  and  they  stood  upon 
their  feet;  and  great  fear  fell  upon  them  which  saw 
them. 

12  And  they  heard  a  great  voice  from  heaven  saying 
unto  them,  Come  up  hither.  /And  they  ascended  up 
to  heaven  cin  a  cloud;  ^'and  their  enemies  beheld  them, 

Vi  And  the  same  hour  'was  there  a  great  earthquake. 
*and  the  tenth  part  of  the  city  fell,  and  in  the  earth- 
quake were  slain  'of  men  seven  thousand:  and  the 
remnant  were  affrighted, »» and  gave  glory  to  the  God 
of  heaven. 


10  in  a  tomb.  And  they  that  dwell  on  the  earth  rejoice 
over  them,  and  make  merry;  and  they  shall  send 
gifts  one   to  another;    because  these   two   prophets 

11  tormented  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth.  And  after 
the  three  days  and  a  half  the  breath  of  life  from 
God  entered  into  them,  and  they  .stood  upon  their 
feet;    and  great   fear   fell    upon   those   who   beheld 

12  them.  And  they  heard  a  great  voice  from  heaven, 
saying  unto  them.  Come  up  hither.  And  they  went 
up  into  heaven  in  the  cloud  ;  and  their  enemies  be- 

13  held  them.  And  in  that  hour  there  was  a  great 
earthquake,  and  the  tenth  part  of  the  city  fell;  aud 
there  were  killed  in  the  earthquake  '  seven  thousand 
persons:  and  the  rest  were  atfrighted,  and  gave  glory 
to  the  God  of  heaven. 


acii   12:  12:  13:  8.... 6  Esther  9:  19,  22...  .c  ch.  16  :  10..   .d  ver.  9....e  Ezek.  37  :  5,  9,  10,  14..../Isa.  14  :  13  ;  ch.  12  :  5....g  Isa:  60;  8  j 

Acts  1  :  9 hi  Kiugs  2:  ],  5,  7 ich.  6:  12 tch.  16,  19 1  Gr.  names  of  men;  ch.3:  4 m  Josh.  7  :  19  ;  ch.  14  :  7  ;  15  :  4. 

i  Gr.  names  of  men,  seven  thousand. 


significance  of  tliis  will  be  seen  when  we  come 
to  summarize,  in  the  General  Comments,  the 
meaning  of  all  these  verses  in  this  connection. 

10.  And  they  that  dwell  upon  the  earth 
shall  rejoice  over  them,  and  make  merry, 
and  shall  send  gifts  one  to  another.  The 
verbs,  as  said  above,  are  in  the  present,  mak- 
ing the  language  more  vivid  and  graphic. 
The  description,  as  we  shall  see,  though  pro- 
phetic in  form,  has  its  parallel  in  history. — 
Because  these  two  prophets  tormented 
them  that  dwelt  on  the  earth.  They  were 
prophets  in  the  sense  of  bringing  a  divine 
message,  spoken  by  divine  command,  and 
under  a  divine  impulse.  The  "torment" 
mentioned  is  that  which  the  wicked  and  the 
hostile  feel  when  the  word  of  God  deals  with 
them  in  truth  and  in  faithful  severity. 

11.  And  after  three  days  and  a  half  the 
Spirit  of  life  from  God  entered  into  them, 
and  they  stood. upon  their  feet.  In  like 
manner  as  their  Lord  had  been,  they  were 
raised  from  the  dead.  The  rendering,  "a 
spirit  of  life"  is  preferred  by  Lange,  Carpen- 
ter, the  Speaker's  Commentary,  and  others. 
The  revision,  as  will  be  seen,  makes  no 
change  in  the  article.  The  Greek  phrase 
{nveviia  ^uijs)  may  be  translated  either  "breath 
of  life,"  or,  "spirit  of  life."  The  latter  is 
implied  in  the  former,  especially  when  we  re- 
member that  the  resurrection  here  spoken  of 
is  properly  a  communication  of  spiritual 
power — a  breath  of  life  "from  God"  to  Chris- 
tian testimony,  so  that  after  an  interval  of 
enforced  silence,  it  becomes  more  outspoken 
and  effective  than  ever.  It  maj'  be  noticed 
that  the  tense  of  the  verb  here  changes  again 
and  becomes  past,  as  if  the  seer  were  now 
looking  back  upon  all,  and  describing  it  as 
history. — And   great  fear  fell  upon  them 


Avhich  saw  them.  Let  us  mark  that  the  fact 
stated  is  the  restoration  to  life  of  the  slain  wit- 
nesses ;  the  eftect  is  the  quick  pause  so  given 
to  the  triumphing  of  their  enemies. 

13.  And  they  heard  a  great  voice  from 
heaven  saying  unto  them.  Come  up  hith- 
er. And  they  ascended  to  heaven  in  a 
[the]  cloud,  and  their  enemies  beheld 
them.  There  is  evident  purpose  to  indicate 
in  the  witnesses,  not  only  a  fellowship  with 
their  Lord  in  suffering  and  death,  nor  alone 
in  their  resurrection  to  life,  but  in  an  ascen- 
sion to  heaven,  like  his  own.  The  symbolism 
thus  parallels  their  experience  with  his.  But 
we  must  remember  that  it  is  symbolism  ;  that 
these  "two  witnesses"  are  rather  a  personifi- 
cation than  actual  persons;  that  in  them  we 
are  to  recognize  the  whole  body  of  Christian 
witnesses  during  a  long  period  of  persecution 
for  Christ's  sake;  that  under  the  imagery  of 
their  death  we  are  to  read  the  silencing  of 
testimony  ;  under  that  of  the  indignitj'  shown 
to  their  dead  bodies,  the  scornful  malice  of 
the  persecutors  toward  those  who  preferred 
death  to  the  denial  of  their  Lord;  while  in 
their  resurrection  we  see  the  restoration  of 
spiritual  power,  boldness,  and  effectiveness  to 
the  silenced  witnesses  ;  and  in  their  ascension 
to  heaven  in  a  cloud,  the  forth-bursting  of 
the  witnessing  spirit,  such  in  its  extent,  the 
vigor  of  its  inspiration,  the  intensity  of  its 
manifestations,  as  to  astonish  all  beholders. 

13.  And  the  same  hour  was  there  a 
great  earthquake.  In  the  Apocalyptic  sym- 
bolism the  earthquake  indicates  the  breaking 
up  of  some  settled  order,  by  sudden  provi- 
dential visitations.  Here  it  indicates  such  a 
visitation,  in  the  shattering  of  great  anti- 
christian  power. — And  the  tenth  part  of 
the  city  fell.    The  city  in  whose  streets  the 


158 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XI. 


"bodies  of  the  witnesses  had  lain  unburied. 
Applying  the  imagery,  we  understand  by  it 
an  effect  upon  the  corrupt  system  of  hierarch- 
ical oppression  under  which  the  witnesses 
had  suffered,  such  as  may  be  seen  in  a  city, 
when  some  large  part  of  it  is  laid  prostrate 
by  an  earthquake.  "The  tenth  part  of  the 
godless  city,"  says  Lange,  "falls  in  the  earth- 
quake. Ten,  as  perfect  development,  realized 
freedom,  is  also  perfect  will,  decided  ten- 
dency. Thus,  with  the  fall  of  a  tenth  part 
of  the  antichristian  world,  the  backbone  of 
that  world  is  broken;  henceforth  it  is  a  con- 
fused mass,  anxiously  expectant  of  the  end." 
— And  in  the  earthquake  were  slain  of 
men  seven  thousand.  It  seems  to  us  that 
this  simply  carries  out  the  imagery.  Any 
attempt  to  give  literal  or  realistic  interpreta- 
tions to  the  number,  seven  thousand,  as  also 
the  tenth  part,  necessarily  fails. — And  the 
remnant  were  affrighted,  and  gave  glory 
to  the  God  of  heaven.  In  these  words  we 
have  indicated  the  fact  that  even  amongst  the 
enemies  of  God  there  may  be  some  capable 
of  learning  the  lessons  of  his  providence, 
enforcing  his  word.  When  revolution  and 
reformation  come,  these  heed  the  warning, 
and  "so  as  by  fire"  are  saved. 

GENERAL   COMMENTS. 

"We  must  call  attention,  once  more,  to  that 
which  was  said  of  the  evident  intention  of 
what  Carpenter,  in  Ellicott,  calls  "the  inter- 
posed visions"  of  the  tenth  and  eleventh 
chapters.  If  we  place  ourselves  in  the  posi- 
tion of  one  contemplating  the  scenes  exhibited 
under  the  first  five  trumpets,  we  may  realize 
how  to  such  a  one  it  might  well  seem  as  if 
every  purpose  of  mercy  and  good-will  toward 
men  in  the  mind  of  God  was  suffering  utter 
defeat;  as  if  alike  the  truth  he  had  given  to 
the  world  had  been  shrouded  in  final  eclipse, 
and  all  witness  for  that  truth  silenced  forever. 
What  has,  nevertheless,  become  of  the  truth, 
is  shown  in  the  tenth  chapter;  what  has  be- 
come of  the  witnesses,  in  the  eleventh. 

From  what  appears  in  the  former  of  these 
chapters  it  is  made  evident  that  no  purpo.se 
of  God,  as  regards  the  gospel  of  man's  salva- 
tion, fails.  He  permits  to  this  gospel  a  fiery 
ordeal,  extending  through  many  centuries. 
But  at  the  fit  time  he  appears  again  in  its 
behalf,  and  through  chosen  instruments 
causes  it  to  be  once  more  declared,  as   here 


represented  in  the  little  book,  in  primeval 
simplicity,  and  in  a  ministry  that  bears  it 
"to  all  the  world."  By  what  appears  in  the 
eleventh  chapter,  we  are  given  to  understand 
that  while  the  outer  court  of  the  symbolical 
temple,  and  the  city  itself,  are  trodden  under 
foot  by  the  enemies  of  God,  and  truth,  and 
righteousness,  the  inner  sanctuary  is  kept 
safe;  in  other  words,  there  survives,  in  the 
very  worst  of  times,  a  fiuthful  remnant  by 
whom  an  undesecrated  altar  is  preserved,  a 
true  worship  offered,  and  that  truth  which 
embodies  the  substance  of  ancient  types 
maintained.  These  are  the  "witnesses."  The 
voice  of  a  true  testimony  in  God's  behalf 
does  not  die  out  of  the  world,  even  when 
persecution  rages  most  hotly  ;  nor  is  it  wholly 
drowned  even  when  the  world's  loud  tumult 
is  at  its  worst.  These  witnesses  do,  indeed, 
testify— "prophesy" — "in  sackcloth";  the 
garment  of  distress  and  mourning.  Such  of 
the  Lord's  true  people  as  survive  in  such 
times  are  a  hunted  flock.  The  truth  itself  is 
under  reproach,  and  deriding  voices  rave 
against  it.  The  true  church  and  its  ordi- 
nances are,  in  the  world's  esteem,  placed  in 
humiliating  contrast  with  the  shows  and 
splendors  of  that  apostasy  which  for  the  time 
is  supreme,  while  everything  beautiful,  and 
sacred,  and  beneficent  in  Christianity  is  as  if 
clad  in  the  sackcloth  of  humiliation,  and 
lamenting,  in  the  language  of  the  ancient 
prophet,  that  there  are  none  to  stand  upon  the 
Lord's  side.  And  there  comes  a  time  when 
the  triumph  of  evil  seems  -complete.  It  is 
the  deeper  gloom  that  precedes  the  dawn. 
All  the  powers  of  darkness  triumph.  The 
murderers  of  the  witnesses  "rejoice  over 
them  and  make  merry,  and  send  gifts  one  to 
another."  But  the  triumph  is  brief  Just  at 
this  crisis  God  appears  for  his  truth  and  his 
people.  The  slain  witnesses  stand  upon  their 
feet.  They  rise  in  a  vigor  of  life  like  the 
glory  that  shone  in  the  person  and  face  of  the 
risen  Lord.  Their  enemies  behold  them  with 
consternation,  and  the  triumph  which  now 
comes  to  them  in  turn  is  like  the  Lord's  own 
ascension  to  heaven  in  a  cloud,  receiving  all 
power  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  Effects  follow 
which  show  how  truly  divine  is  that  interven- 
tion. The  hostile  power  shakes,  as  when 
earthquakes  rock  the  globe,  while  the  great 
and  wicked  city,  in  whose  streets  the  slain 
witnesses  have  lain,  feels  the  shock. 


Ch.  XL] 


REVELATION. 


159 


This  is,  in  general,  the  picture  sketched  for 
us  in  the  striking  symbolism  of  this  chapter. 
If  we  have  read  this  symbolism  aright,  there 
can  be,  it  should  seem,  only  one  answer  to 
the  question  where  the  historical  counterpart 
shall  be  sought.  There  is  one  point  of  crisis 
in  modern  times  which  fulfills  in  a  remark- 
able degree  the  conditions  of  an  adequate 
historical  parallel  to  the  Apocalyptic  picture 
here  sketched.  Not  as  fulfillments  of  the 
prophecy  in  exact  detail,  but  as  indicating 
some  general  aspects  of  the  period  as  having 
this  significance,  we  note  the  following: 

In  A.  D.  1512-17,  a  Council  was  held  in 
Rome,  called  from  the  place  of  its  assembly — 
the  Church  of  St.  John  Lateran — the  Fifth 
Lateran  Council.  At  the  eighth  session  of 
this  Council,  held  in  December,  151B,  a  papal 
bull  was  issued,  in  which  was  a  summons  to 
all  dissidents  from  the  papal  authority  to 
appear  before  the  Council  at  its  next  session, 
in  the  following  May,  and  to  show  causa  for 
their  continued  refusal  to  acknowledge  the 
pope's  supremacy.  When  the  Council  came 
together  in  that  session,  May  5,  1514,  no 
answer  appeared  to  this  summons.  Not  that 
there  were  no  longer  those  in  Christendom 
who  refused  allegiance  to  the  usurped  author- 
ity of  Rome,  nor  because  any  one  could  have 
imagined  that  opportunity  for  free  protest 
before  the  Council  would  have  been  allowed; 
but  because,  joined  with  the  impossibilitj'  of 
a  response  under  such  conditions,  it  was  a 
fact  that,  just  at  that  time,  there  actually  was 
no  one  ready,  like  the  WickliflTe  and  the 
Huss  of  a  former  age,  or  the  Luther  who  was 
soon  to  appear,  to  give  a  voice  to  the  spirit  of 
revolt  against  Rome,  which,  though  widely 
prevalent,  was  for  the  most  part  nursed  in 
secret.  "  Throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  Christendom,"  says  Elliott  —  and  his 
words  are  true  in  the  sense  just  explained — 
"Christ's  witnessing  servants  were  silenced: 
they  appeared  as  dead.  The  orator  of  the 
session  ascended  the  pulpit,  and,  amidst  the 
applause  of  the  assembled  Council,  uttered 
that  memorable  exclamation  of  triumph — an 
exclamation  which,  notwithstanding  the  long 
multiplied  anti-heretical  decrees  of  popes  and 
councils,  notwithstanding  the  more  multi- 
plied anti-heretical  crusades  and  inquisitorial 
fires,  was  never,  I  believe,  pronounced  before, 
and  certainly  never  since — 'Jam  nemo  re- 
clamat,  nullus  obsistit  1 '   '  There  is  an  end  of 


resistance  to  the  papal  rule  and  religion; 
opposers  exist  no  more ! '  And  again,  '  The 
whole  body  of  Christendom  is  now  seen  to  be 
subjected  to  its  Head,  that  is,  to  thee!'  " 
Three  years  and  a  half  later,  October  31, 
1517,  Luther  nailed  his  theses  to  the  Witten- 
berg church -door! 

We  do  not  regard  this,  as  Elliott  seems  to 
do,  as  the  exact  and  exhaustive  fulfillment  of 
the  prediction  concerning  the  death  and  res- 
urrection of  the  witnesses.  Elliott's  critics 
maintain  that  the  historical  interval  from 
May  5,  1514,  to  October  31,  1517,  exceeds  the 
prophetical  three  days  (years)  and  a  half,  by 
eighteen  days  and  one  half,  according  to  the 
Speaker's  Commentary,  reckoning  each  year 
as  having  365  days.  While  in  our  opinion  the 
objection  is  without  serious  weight,  since 
there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  prophetic 
intervals  of  time  would  be  measured  with 
such  absolute  accuracy  as  this  reasoning  im- 
plies, we  are,  upon  the  other  hand,  inclined 
to  view  the  historical  incident  as  illustrative 
only  in  a  general  way  of  those  aspects  of  the 
period  in  question  which  the  prophecy  antici- 
pates. It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  for  some 
time  previous  to  the  meeting  of  this  Fifth 
Lateran  Council,  as  described,  the  murderers 
of  God's  people  had  been  especially  active, 
with  results  of  intimidation  and  the  ap- 
parent silencing  of  dissent  and  protest  highly 
gratifying  to  the  hierarchy.  The  crusades 
against  the  Albigenses  and  Waldenses  had 
well-nigh  extirpated  those  troublesome  here- 
tics. The  measures  of  the  Inquisition  in 
various  parts  of  Europe  had  succeeded  to  the 
utmost  wish  of  those  by  whom  they  were  car- 
ried on.  A  threatening  schism  in  the  papal 
body  itself  was  healed  during  the  sessions  of 
this  Council.  So  fully,  in  view  of  all,  did  the 
members  of  the  Council  sympathize  in  the 
exultant  confidence  of  their  orator,  that  upon 
the  final  adjournment  they  celebrated  the 
triumph  which  Popery  seemed  to  have 
achieved  in  a  feast,  whose  splendor  had  never 
in  Rome  been  equaled.  It  was  like  the  re- 
joicing, the  merry-making,  and  the  sending 
of  gifts  of  which  our  prophecy  speaks.  It  is 
also  matter  of  history  that  in  that  same  Coun- 
cil there  was  an  emphatic  re-affirmation  of  the 
long-standing  papal  law  that  the  bodies  of 
heretics  should  be  denied  all  rites  of  Christian 
burial;  so  that  here,  also,  we  find  almost 
literal  fulfillment  of  the  words :  "Do  not  suffer 


160 


REVELATION, 


[Ch.  XI. 


their  bodies  to  be  put  in  graves."  Those  con- 
spicuous examples  of  the  application  of  this 
law  in  the  exhuming  and  burning  of  the  bones 
of  Wickliffe,  at  an  earlier  date,  by  command 
of  the  Council  of  Constance,  and  the  direction 
given  by  the  same  Council  that  the  ashes  of 
Huss  should  be  cast  into  the  Lake  of  Con- 
stance, are  familiar  facts.  It  may  be  added, 
that  in  like  manner  the  ashes  of  Savonarola 
were  thrown  into  the  Arno,  and  that  it  was 
common  for  the  papal  bulls  to  ordain  that  the 
heretics  against  whom  they  were  fulminated 
should  not  only  be  put  to  death,  but  should 
be  denied  Christian  burial.  These,  certainly, 
are  very  remarkable  correspondences  with 
parts  of  the  prophetic  vision  now  studied. 
It  may  not  be  necessary  to  press  them  as  ex- 
haustive fulfillments  of  the  prophecy;  yet  in 
a  general  way  they  are  fulfillments,  and  jus- 
tif3'  us  in  fixing  upon  the  period  now  in  ques- 
tion as  that  to  which  the  eye  of  the  seer,  in 
this  part  of  his  vision,  was  Apocalyptically 
directed. 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  exposition  can  be  i 
given,  not  open  to  serious  objection,  that  will  | 
make  the  numbers  in  this  passage — the  forty-  | 
two  months,  the  twelve  hundred  and  sixty 
days,  and  the  three  days  and  a  half — indica- 
tive of  exact  and  identical  periods.  The  two 
former  are  periods  during  which  the  witnesses 
were  to  prophesy  ;  the  last  that  in  which  their 
dead  bodies  should  lie  unburied  in  the  streets 
of  the  city.  It  is  quite  impossible  that  these 
should  be  identical.  In  the  Excursus  at  the 
end  of  the  next  chapter,  we  suggest  a  possible 
explanation  of  the  forty-two  months  and  the 
twelve  hundred  and  sixtj'  days,  also  of  the 
time,  times,  and  a  half,  during  which  the 
mother  of  the  man-child  should  be  "nour- 
ished" in  the  wilderness;  these  three  being, 
apparently,  different  expressions  for  the  same 
period.  In  like  manner,  the  three  days  and 
a  half  in  this  present  chapter  might  be  ac- 
counted for  by  the  historical  incidents  of 
which  we  have  just  spoken.  We  confess, 
however,  to  a  feeling  of  great  hesitation  in 
accepting  proposed  historical  solutions  of 
Apocalyptic  numbers;  so  many  such  solu- 
tions have  been  confidently  proposed,  yet  in 
the  end  have  proved  delusive.  It  must  be 
remembered,  after  all,  that  these  numbers  are 
a  part  of  the  symbolism  of  the  book,  and  it  is 
perliaps  better  to  treat  every  such  solution 
which  may  be  proposed,  however  probable  it 


may  seem,  as  at  most  hypothetical.  Keasons 
might  be  given  for  treating  them  as  wholly 
sj'mbolical,  the  allusion  being  to  notable  in- 
cidents in  former  history;  as,  for  example,  in 
the  case  now  immediately  in  hand,  the  three 
years  during  which  the  ministry  of  Elijah, 
himself  a  prophet  "clothed  in  sackcloth," 
was  silenced  through  the  persecutions  of 
Jezebel  and  the  hard-heartedness  of  the 
people;  or  the  three  days  during  which  our 
Lord  lay  in  the  tomb.  We  fail,  it  is  true,  to 
find  exact  correspondences  here,  yet  exactness 
of  that  nature  may  be  unnecessary  where 
such  symbols  are  employed. 

A  question  may  have  been  suggested  by 
our  exposition  of  the  words:  "When  they 
shall  have  finished  their  testimony  the  wild 
beast  shall  make  war  upon  them,"  which 
ought  to  be  noticed.  It  might  seem,  possibly, 
as  if  it  were  not  until  they  have  finished 
their  testimony  that  the  beast  makes  war 
upon  the  witnesses.  And  this  niay  be  thought 
to  imply  that  the  witnesses  find  no  hindrance 
or  opposition  in  giving  their  testimony,  until 
it  is  finished;  as  if  all  goes  well  with  them 
until  then.  But  the  contrary  of  this  is  made 
plainly  to  appear  where  it  is  said  that  they 
prophesy  "clothed  in  sackcloth."  Indited, 
that  the  witnesses  give  their  testimony  in 
circumstances  of  trial  and  danger,  is  implied 
all  through  the  passage  in  which  they  and 
their  ministry  are  described.  They  have 
enemies,  those  who  desire  to  "hurt  them." 
They  are  compelled,  in  vindication  of  their 
mission,  like  Elijah  and  like  Moses,  to  invoke 
the  special  interposition  of  divine  power — 
only,  in  what  is  said  of  their  shutting  heaven, 
that  it  rain  not,  turning  the  waters  into  blood, 
and  smiting  the  earth  with  every  plague,  we 
are  to  understand  that  in  this  language  as 
imagery,  founded  on  the  record  of  God's 
vindications  of  his  servants  in  ancient  times, 
is  simply  presented  the  truth,  that  like  those 
witnesses  of  the  Older  Dispensation,  they 
have  God  on  their  side,  who  appears  for  them, 
vindicates  and  defends  them,  in  every  needful 
way.  But  there  came  a  time  when  the  war 
of  the  wild  beast  upon  the  witnesses  assumed 
a  character  peculiarly  violent  and  murderous. 
This  was  when,  in  the  growth  of  opposition 
to  the  Papacy,  the  popes  were  made  to  see 
that  more  violent,  and  more  cnnccrfed  meas- 
ures must  be  used.  Out  of  this  grew  those 
crusades,  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  cen- 


Ch.  XI.] 


EEVELATION. 


161 


H^The  second  woe  is   past;   and,  behold,  the  third  i  14     The  second   Woe  is  past:  behold  the  third  Woe 
oe  coiuetn  ouickiv.  o*i7iititii  rtuwtHif 


woe  coiueth  quickly. 

15  And  'the  seventh  angel  sounded;  ''and  there  were 
great  voices  in  heaven,  saying,  •'The  kingdoms  of  this 
world  are  become  Ihe.  kimjdoni^  of  our  Lord,  and  of  his 
Christ;  «and  he  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever. 


Cometh  quickly. 
15  And  the  seventh  angel  sounded;  and  there  fol- 
lowed great  voices  in  heaven,  and  they  said.  The 
kingdom  of  the  world  is  become  the  kingdom  of  our 
Lord,  and  of  his  Christ :  and  he  shall  reign  i  for  ever 


och.  8:  13;  9:  la;  15  :  1.  ...6  ch.  10:  7....C  la 


.27:  13;  ch.  16  :  17;  19  :  6. . .  .rf  ch.  12  :  10. .. .«  Dan.  2 :  M ;  7:14  18  27.- 
the  ages  of  the  ages.  '      ' 


-G  r.  unto 


turies,   which  were  in  such  a  literal  sense  a 
"war,"  and  a  most  cruel  one. 

We  must  not  be  too  realistic  in  our  interpre- 
tations of  the  imagery  of  a  passage  like  this 
now  studied.     The  death  of  the  witnesses, is 
represented  in  the  vision  as  it  seemed  to  those 
who  rejoiced  over  it.    Their  dead  bodies  lying 
in  the  streets  of  the  city  is  only  a  vivid  pic- 
ture of  the  conviction  their  enemies  had— a 
mistaken  one,  as  the  event  proved— that  there 
was  now  an  end  to  them  and  to  their  torment- 
ing   testimony.      Their  resurrection    in    like 
manner  vividly  pictures   the   unexpectedness 
and  intensity  of  that  outburst  of  protest  and 
opposition  which  occurred,   as  we   know,   so 
soon   after  it   had   been    supposed,    and   pro- 
claimed, that  opposition  and  protest  had  been 
crushed    and    silenced.       For  the  witnesses, 
after   all,    were   not   dead,    as    their  enemies 
imagined.    All  over  Europe,  there  were  those 
who   deeply  felt  the   iniquity  of   the   Papal 
rule,   who  abhorred   the  corruptions   of   the 
priesthood,    and     realized    the    dishonor    so 
brought  upon   all    true  religion.      A    "new 
learning"  had   gained  a  hold  upon  the  best 
minds  of  the  age,  and  out  of  this  came  an 
intellectual  stimulus  which  was  sure  to  sooner 
or  later  rise  in  revolt  against  the  despotism 
that  sought  to  shackle  alike  the  faith  and  the 
thought  of  mankind.    The  miracles  of  history 
are,  after  all,   processes  of  cause  and  effect. 
Still  it  is  not  difficult  to  realize  the  shock  of 
surprise  to  the  priesthood  when  the  Keforma- 
tion  burst  on  Europe.     The  number  of  those 
who  came  forward  in  support  of  the  move- 
ment; the  influential  position  many  of  them 
held;    the  political  and  military  power  soon 
enlisted   in   behalf  of   the   Keformers— these 
developments  of  formidable  opposition  burst 
upon  a  scene  of  things  where  the  pope  had 
long  seemed  absolute  master,  with  startling 
effect.     Apocalyptic  imagery  shows  it  to  us  as 
a  falling  of  the  tenth  part  of  the  city,  and  the 
slaying  of  "seven  thousand  names  of  men." 
From  the  shock  of  that  revelation  of  its  real 
impotency,   even  in   the  moment  of  its  tri- 
umph,  Kome  has  never  recovered. 


14-19.  The  Seventh  Trumpet  Sounds. 
14.  The  second  woe  is  past ;  and  be- 
hold,   the    third    woe    cometh    quickly. 

The  word  "and"  is  not  in  the  Greek.  The 
verse  is  made  more  graphic  by  omitting  it 
The  phrase,  "second  woe,"  does  not  apply  to 
what  we  have  in  the  tenth  chapter,  or  to  so 
much  of  this  present  one  as  we  have  now 
considered.  All  this  is  "interposed"  be- 
tween the  sounding  of  the  sixth  and  the 
sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet.  It  applies 
alone  to  the  vision  described  immediately  in 
connection  with  the  sounding  of  the  sixth 
trumpet.  In  like  manner,  the  "third  woe"' 
has  respect  to  what  is  implied  in  that  which 
follows  to  the  end  of  our  present  chapter, 
rather  than  to  what  is  expressly  said.  The 
picture  given  us  is  that  of  a  triumphant 
epoch  in  the  Eedeemer's  Kingdom.  But  this 
itself  implies  the  overthrow  and  the  passing 
away  of  that  which  opposes,  with  all  which 
this  involves.  It  is  a  "woe,"  involving  the 
defeat  and  the  ultimate  overthrow  of  that 
which  resists  the  Eedeemer's  reign,  or  his 
kingdom  of  grace. 

15.  And  the  seventh  angel  sounded, 
and  there  were  great  voices  in  heaven, 
saying.  The  revision  reads,  "And  the  sev- 
enth angel  sounded;  and  there  followed  great 
voices  in  heaven;  and  they  said."  The 
literal  rendering  would  be,  "the  seventh  angel 
sounded  a  trumpet"  (i<Td\niae),  or  "his  trum- 
pet." Whose  voices,  is  not  in  any  way  in- 
dicated. It  seems  to  be  a  climacteric  acclaim, 
in  which  the  heavenly  choruses  unite,  as  if  to 
celebrate  the  advent  of  some  glorious  epoch, 
for  which  they  had  been  looking  and  wait- 
ing.—The  kingdoms  of  the  world.  We 
should  read,  "the  kingdom  of  the  world,"  in 
the  singular.  This  is  the  true  reading  of  the 
Greek  ;  and  it  expresses  the  idea  more  exactly.  ■ 
The  kingdoms  of  the  world,  as  political 
powers,  as  organized  nationalities,  viewed 
as  such,  are  not  what  the  reign  of  Christ 
contemplates  ;  but  the  world  itself,  as  a  whole, 
though  including  these  so  far  as  their  direct 
relations  to  his  own  spiritual  kingdom   are 


162 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XI. 


K)And  "the  four  and  twenty  elders,  which  sat  before 
God  on  their  seats,  tell  upon  their  faces,  and  wor- 
shipped (iod, 

17  Savin;;,  We  give  thee  thanks,  O  Lord  God  Al- 
mighty," '  wliich  art,  and  wast,  and  art  to  come;  because 
thou  hast  taken  to  thee  thy  great  power,  <:and  hast 
reigned. 

18 ''And  the  nations  were  angry,  and  thy  wrath  is 
come,  «and  the  time  of  the  dead,  that  they  should  be 
judged,  and  tluit  thou  shouldest  give  reward  unto  thy 
servants  the  prophets,  and  to  the  saints,  and  them  that 
fear  thy  name,  /small  and  great ;  a  and  shouldest  de- 
stroy them  which  destroy  the  earth. 


16  and  ever.  And  the  four  and  twenty  elders,  who  sit 
before  tiod  on  their  thrones,  fell  upon  their  faces, 

17  and  worshipped  (jod,  saying,  We  give  thee  thanivs, 
O  Lord  tiod,  ihe  Almighty,  who  art  and  who  wast; 
because  thou  hast  taken  thy  great  power,  and  didst 

18  reign.  And  the  nations  were  wroth,  and  thy  wrath 
came,  and  the  time  of  the  dead  to  be  judged,  and  Ihe 
time  to  give  their  reward  to  thy  servants  the  pro- 
phets, and  to  the  saints,  and  to  them  that  fear  thy 
name,  the  small  and  the  great;  and  to  destroy  them 
that  destroy  the  earth. 


ach.  4:4:  5:8;  19:  4....6  ch.  1:  4,  8;  4:8 


;  16:  5 c  oh.  19:  6 d  ver.  2:  9 e  Dan.  7  :  9,  10;  ch.  6:  10.... /ch.  19:  6 g  ch. 

13:  10;  18:6. 


concerned. — Are  become  [is  become]  the 
kingdoms  [the  kingdom]  of  our  Lord  and 
of  his  Christ.  Following  the  Greek  e.\- 
actly,  we  should  read,  "The  kingdom  of  the 
world  is  become  [omitting  'the  kingdom'] 
of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ."  More  ex- 
actly still,  according  to  the  Greek,  we  might 
read,  "The  kingdom  of  the  world  became 
[eycVero — denoting  an  accomplished  fact]  of 
our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ."  The  meaning 
is  that  the  kingdom  of  the  world  has  become 
our  Lord's  possession.  The  expression,  "of 
our  Lord,"  seems  to  be  a  mention  of  the 
Divine  Being  in  general,  as  thus  supreme; 
while  the  additional  one,  "of  his  Christ," 
indicates  specifically  as  the  king  the  Anointed 
One,  the  Redeemer,  the  "Christ."  Para- 
phrastically,  we  might  read,  "of  our  Lord, 
the  Lord  God,  and  of  his  Anointed  One"  — 
anointed,  crowned,  as  at  his  ascension,  that 
he  may  be  King  in  Zion. — And  he  shall 
reign  forever  and   ever.     Literally,  '■'■unto 

the-ages  of  ages' ^   (.ei?  rows  aioiva^  riav  aitavuiv)^  the 

N^w  Testament  expression  for  eternity. 

16.  And   the   four  and   twenty   elders, 
which    sat    before    God  on   their  seats, 

["  </troM«,s"].  We  have  here  another  re- 
minder of  the  fiict  that  John  still  has  before 
him-  that  wonderful  vision  of  the  theophanj' 
dcfScribed  in  the  fourth  chapter.  In  the 
ch-anges  of  the  Apocalyptic  drama,  successive 
scenes  have  appeared — some  of  things  in 
heaven,  some  of  things  on  the  earth,  some  in 
which  hesiven  and  (tarth  alike  share.  These 
come  and  go,  while  that  which  the  seer  first 
beheld  through  the  opcmed  door  of  heaven 
reinains  as  a  fixed  element  in  the  whole,  atten- 
tion being  from  time  to  time  centred  upon  it 
aniew.  So  it  is  now.  These  elders,  represen- 
tatives of  the  redeemed  church,  understand- 
ing-that  now  the  epoch  of  fulfilliiHiiit  has 
cohle  for  the  promises  that   have  comforted 


and  sustained  during  the  long  and  hot  ordeal, 
welcome  its  appearing. — Fell  upon  their 
faces,  and  worshipped  God.  They  had 
before  been  seen  in  acts  of  worship,  and  their 
voices  heard  in  loud  choruses  of  praise ;  now 
they  fall  upon  their  faces,  showing  by  this  act 
of  deep  adoration  their  sense  of  the  great  and 
wonderful  manifestation  now  made  of  the 
goodness,  and  wisdom,  and  power  of  God. 

17.  Saying,  We  give  thee  thanks,  O 
Lord  God  Almighty,  which  art,  and  wast, 
and  art  to  come  ;  because  thou  hast 
taken  to  thee  thy  great  power,  and  hast 
reigned.  The  best  Greek  text  (Westeott  and 
Hort),  omits  the  words  here  translated,  "and 
art  to  come."  They  are  supposed  to  have 
been  inserted  by  copyists,  under  the  impres- 
sion that  they  were  necessary  to  make  the 
passage  correspond  with  ch.  1 :  4.  The  words 
are  wanting  alike  in  the  Sinaitic  and  the 
Alexandrine  manuscripts. 

18.  And  the  nations  Avere  angry,  and 
thy  wrath  is  come,  and  the  time  of  the 
dead,  that  they  should  be  judged,  and 
that  thou  shouldest  give  reward  unto  thy 
servants  the  prophets,  and  to  the  saints, 
and  them  that  fear  thy  name,  small  and 
great ;  and  shouldest  destroy  them  which 
destroy  the  earth.  Carjjenter,  in  EUicott, 
arranges  the  two  verses,  in  the  order  of  the 
clauses,  as  follows : 

We  thank  thee,  O  Lord, 
The  God,  the  Almighty, 
He  that  is,  and  he  that  was, 
Because  thou  hast  takeu  thy  great  power,  and  didst 
reign. 

And  the  nations  were  angry, 
And  then  came  thine  anger. 
And  the  season  of  the  deail,  to  be  judged. 
And  to  give  their  reward  unto  thy  servants  the  pro- 
phets, and  to  the  saints. 
And  to  them  that  fear  thy   name,  the  small  and  the 

great. 
And  to  destroy  them  that  destroy  the  earth. 


Ch.  XI.] 


REVELATION. 


163 


19  And  "the  temple  of  God  was  opened  in  heaven, 
and  there  was  seen  in  his  temple  the  ark  of  his  testa- 
ment: and  'there  were  lightnings,  and  voices,  and 
thunderings,  and  an  earthquake,  <^and  great  hail. 


19  And  there  was  opened  the  temple  of  (iod  that  is' 
in  heaven  ;  and  there  was  seen  in  his  temple  the  ark 
of  his  covenant;  and  there  followed  lightnings,  and' 
voices,  and  thunders,  and  an  earthquake,  and  great 
hail. 


a  ch.  15  :  5,  8 6  ch.  8:  5;  16:  18 c  ch.  16:  21. 


The  best  Greek  text  omits,  as  we  have 
said,  the  words,  "and  art  to  come."  It  is  a 
forced  exposition,  however,  to  find  in  this  any- 
especial  significance.  Hengstenberg,  for  ex- 
ample, takes  the  absence  of  this  clause — found 
in  other  places  in  similar  connections — as  an 
indication  that  now  the  final  end  has  come, 
and  that  now  the  church  no  longer  looks 
forward  to  the  advent  which  has  so  long  been 
the  object  of  hope  and  expectation;  in  other 
words,  that  this  chorus  of  praise  carries  us 
beyond  the  second  coming  of  the  Lord,  and 
beyond  the  millennium,  to  the  final  judg- 
ment and  the  end  of  the  world.  This,  how- 
ever, assumes  that  the  formula,  "which  art, 
and  wast,  and  art  to  come,"  as  found  else- 
where, alludes  in  the  last  part  of  it  to  the 
anticipated  second  coming.  We  have  seen, 
upon  the  contrary,  that  it  is  but  a  form  of 
expression  for  that  august  name  under  which 
of  old  Jehovah  made  himself  known  to  Moses 
and  to  Israel.  It  is  simply  declarative  of  the 
eternity  of  the  Divine  Being.  In  this  place, 
the  omission  of  thewords,  "and  art  to  come," 
must  be  regarded  as  purely  incidental ;  the 
clause  "which  art,"  sufficiently  to  the  pur- 
pose in  this  place,  declaring  how  God  exists 
in  an  eternal  "now."  We  are  to  remember, 
here,  what  was  said  to  the  souls  under  the 
altar,  that  they  should  "wait  yet  for  a  little 
season"  for  the  vindication  that  was  the  bur- 
den of  their  cry,  "How  long,  0  Lord"?  Also 
what  was  said  by  the  "strong  angel,"  .stand- 
ing with  his  "right  foot  upon  the  sea,  and  his 
left  foot  on  the  earth,"  and  proclaiming  that 
"there  shall  be  delay  no  longer,  but  in  the 
days  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel,  when 
he  is  about  to  sound,  then  is  finished  the 
mystery  of  God,  according  to  the  good  tid- 
ings which  he  declared  to  his  servants,  the 
prophets."  The  seventh  trumpet  is  now 
sounded,  and  that  epoch  of  fulfillment  has 
come.  What  is  implied  in  this  we  reserve 
for  the  General  Comments. 

19.  And  the  temple  of  God  was  opened 
in  heaven,  and  there  was  seen  in  his 
temple  the  ark  of  his  testament  [cove- 
nant].    The  corrected  reading  is,  "And  there 


was  opened  the  temple  of  God  that  is  in 
heaven,  and  there  was  seen  the  ark  of  his 
covenant  in  his  temple."  The  emphatic  thing, 
here,  is  that  "the  ark  of  his  covenant"  is 
disclosed.  This,  as  seen  in  the  ancient  temple, 
was  the  .symbol  of  divine  provision,  and  pro- 
mise, and  pledge.  It  was  a  perpetual  me- 
morial of  the  covenant  between  God  and  his, 
people,  preserving,  at  the  same  time,  those., 
things  which  were  such  expressive  types  of 
the  "better  things  to  come."  Its  disclosure, 
now,  in  vision,  is  the  sign  that  the  timefor  a 
final,  full,  complete  fulfillment  of  covenant 
promise  has  arrived.  Of  the  good  things 
which  the  Lord  hath  spoken  concerning  the 
house  of  Israel,  all  must  come  to  pass.  "The 
mystery  of  God"  is  now  to  be  "finished."  — 
And  there  were  lightnings,  and  voices, 
and  thnnderings,  and  an  earthquake, 
and  great  hail.  It  is  by  this  kind  of  ikl- 
agery  that  in  various  places  irt  this  book,  a»^ 
in  8:  5;  16:  18,  great  and  startling  revolutions 
are  described;  those  epochal  dispensations  in  , 
the  divine  providence  which  change  the  face 
of  the  world.  What  is  imported  by  it  in 
this  place,  we  shall  have  occasion  to  notice  in 
what  appears  below. 

GENERAL   COMMENTS. 

If  we  have  been  correct  in  our  expositions 
of  these  two  chapters,  the  tenth  and  eleventh 
— and  we  venture  to  hope  that  we  have  not 
wholly  failed  to  carry  with  us  the  convic- 
tions of  our  readers — the  conclusion  of  all 
will  be  that  the  passage  just  noticed,  ver.  14- 
19,  cannot  be  viewed  as  fully  explained,  when 
taken  as  a  picture  of  the  closing  Dispensation 
and  the  last  days;  or,  at  most,  the  inaugura- 
tion of  the  millennium.  That  strong  expres- 
sion in  the  heavenly  chorus:  "The  kingdom 
of  this  world  has  become  the  kingdom  of  our 
Lord,  and  of  his  Christ,"  many  have  seemed 
to  think,  could  be  adequately  interpreted  only 
as  the  final,  full,  everla-siting  victorj'  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  over  all  its  enemies.  We 
oflTer  the  suggestion  :  that  it  is  none  too  strong 
as  representing  the  change  which  takes  place 
when  this  kingdom,  having  passed  ihe  period 


164 


EEVELATION. 


[Ch.  XI. 


of  ordeal,  enters  that  of  final  progress  and 
achievement.  In  the  General  Comments  at 
the  end  of  the  tenth  chapter,  we  have  noted 
the  significance  of  that  epochal  point  of 
change,  at  which  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ, 
resuming  its  function  as  the  messenger  of  a 
pure  and  true  gospel,  and  as  announcing  to 
the  world  the  finishing  of  "the  mystery  of 
God,"  became,  as  never  before,  an  element 
of  powerful  and  effective  transformation. 
Surely,  the  church,  and  Christianity  as  em- 
bodied in  the  church,  have  been  since  that 
time  a  "kingdom,"  in  a  marked  and  pre- 
eminent sense.  There  has  been  in  them  an 
element  of  spiritual  power  not  equaled  even 
in  those  days  of  primitive  vigor,  when  the 
religion  of  Christ  seemed  carrying  all  before 
it.  For  in  these  later  centuries,  Christianity 
has  been  able,  not  only  to  overcome  the  oppo- 
sition without ;  but  to  reform  the  evil  within. 
The  progress  has  been  steady,  of  the  grow- 
ing supremacy  of  Christian  principle  in  all 
spheres  and  relation?  of  human  life,  the  effect- 
iveness of  Christian  teaching  as  an  element 
of  intellectual  and  moral  revolution,  and  the 
whole  work  of  social  and  political  transfor- 
mation after  Christian  ideals.  If  one  should 
judge  of  this  progress  by  what  appears  at  any 
one  moment,  or  in  any  one  generation  of  the 
post-reformation  period,  he  might  see  much 
to  make  him  doubtful  as  to  which  force  is 
really  prevailing  in  the  struggle — the  Chris- 
tian or  the  Antichristian.  Looking  at  the 
period  as  a  whole,  the  change  is  so  wonderful, 
especially  as  we  compare  the  period  with 
former  ones,  that  the  thoughtful  and  candid 
observer  must  surely  see  the  only  explanation 
in  the  fact  that  "the  kingdom  of  this  world 
has  become  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord,  and 
of  his  Ciirist."  There  are  those  who  are  fond 
of  attributing  all  to  the  growth  of  intelli- 
gence; but  what  is  this  "intelligence,"  in  its 
really  good  and  great  sense,  save  a  reflection 
of  the  heavenly  radiance  itself?  to  the  power 
of  modern  ideas^)ut  where  did  these  ideas 
have  their  source?  to  intellectual  freedom 
and  resultant  cultures  and  developments — 
but  to  what  is  the  modern  world  above  all 
indebted  for  its  intellectual  freedom?  If  we 
think  of  the  world  as  "the  field"  for  gospel 
sowing,  how  widely  has  the  sower  gone 
abroad,  and  what  wonderful  harvests  have 
followed  the  sowing  I  If  we  think  of  it  as 
tlie  territory  over  which  Christ  is  to  reign  in 


millennial  glory,  to  what  a  wonderful  degree 
is  his  reign  already  established,  and  how 
almost  literally  true  are  those  words  now, 
which  the  inspired  apostle,  by  anticipation, 
addressed  to  the  church  in  the  beginning  of 
its  history — "aW  things  are  yours!''  If  we 
apply  in  this  way  the  words  under  considera- 
tion, ver.  14-19,  we  mu.st,  without  doubt, 
understand  them  as  embracing  the  whole  of 
this  period  to  which  our  own  age  belongs — 
that  which  is  still  future  as  well  as  that  which 
is  already  past. 

With  the  closing  words  of  this  chapter  one 
grand  section  of  the  Apocalyptic  scheme  is 
complete — that,  namely,  which,  viewing  the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  true  Israel  of 
God,  exhibits  its  earthly  career  under  imagery 
based  upon  the  history  of  ancient  Israel  in  its 
relations  with  the  heathen  world  in  each  age. 
The  next  chapter,  as  we  shall  see,  takes  us 
back  again  to  "the  beginning  of  the  gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ,"  and  the  same  great  history 
is  prophetically  foreshadowed  in  a  new  system 
of  symbols,  and  at  new  points  of  view.  In 
that  second  section,  beginning  with  chapter 
twelve  and  closing  with  chapter  nineteen,  the 
fortunes  of  the  church  are  traced  more  in  de- 
tail, and  events  at  "  the  time  of  the  end"  are 
dwelt  upon  in  a  way  not  attempted  here. 
The  closing  passage  in  this  present  section 
comprises,  within  the  compass  of  a  few  verses, 
centuries  of  human  life  ;  and  in  the  two  final 
verses  seems  to  sum  up  all  those  tremendous 
events  which  are  to  make  memorable  to  all 
eternity  the  last  ages  of  time.  The  "angry 
nations"  are  Gog  and  Magog  gathering  again 
their  hosts  for  a  war  upon  the  city  and  camp 
of  the  saints,  as  described  in  chajiter  twenty, 
below;  the  wrath  that  comes  is  the  fire  from 
heaven  wliich  devours  them;  "the  time  of 
the  dead  that  they  shall  be  judged"  is  the 
assembling  of  all  "the  dead,  both  great  and 
small,"  before  "the  great  white  throne";  the 
reward  of  the  faithful  is  the  glory  and  bless- 
edness of  the  final  redemption;  and  the  de- 
struction of  "them  which  destroy  tlie  earth  " 
is  the  consignment  of  dragon  and  beast  and 
false  prophet  to  the  lake  that  burns  with  fire 
and  brimstone,  forever  and  ever.  As  the 
temple  door,  seen  in  Apocalyptic  vision, 
opens,  and  the  ark  of  the  covenant  is  dis- 
closed, it  is  a  sign  that  the  covenant  promises 
have  all  come  to  their  fulfillment;  while  the 
lightnings,  and  voices,  and  thundcrings,  and 


Ch.  XII.] 


REVELATION. 


165 


CHAPTER   XII. 

AND  there  appeared  a  great  wonder  in  heaven ;  a  |    1     And  a  great  sign  was  seen  in  heaven ;  a  woman 
woman  clothed  with  the  sun,  and  the  moon  under  1       arrayed  with  the  sun,  and  the  moon  under  her  feet 
her  leet,  and  upon  her  head  a  crown  of  twelve  stars :       |  ' 


earthquake,  and  down-rushing  tempest  of 
hail,  synibfjlize  the  tumult  of  a  world's  final 
catastrophe,  and  that  passing  away  of  the  old 
which  ushers  in  the  "new." 


THE   CHURCH   IN   THE   WILDER- 
NESS. 

1-6.  The  Woman  and  the  Dragon. 

1.  And  there  appeared  a  great  wonder 
in  heaven.  The  primary  meaning  of  the 
word  here  translated  "wonder"  (<n)M<to>'),  is 
"sign."  The  latter  word  is  also  the  prefer- 
able rendering  in  this  place,  inasmuch  as 
what  is  described,  like  all  other  appearances 
in  these  successive  visions,  is  presented  to 
view,  not  simply  as  something  wonderful,  but 
as  having  Apocalyptic  meaning  and  signifi- 
cance. It  is  to  some  extent  equivalent  to  the 
word  "symbol,"  as  used  in  the  exposition. 
We  may  very  properly  connect  it,  in  its  form 
and  significance,  with  the  Greek  word  in 
ch.  1 :  1.  We  there  read  :  "And  he  sent  and 
signified  (eo-ij^iai-ei/)  it  by  his  angel  unto  his  ser- 
vant John."  "Signified  it"  by  "signs" 
(arifLfia),  such  as  the  "great"  one — great  in  its 
purpose  and  import — here  described.  A  like 
usage  of  the  same  Greek  word  is  found,  Matt. 
24:  30:  "Then  shall  appear  the  siffn  of  the 
Son  of  man  in  heaven."  What  these  opening 
words  of  the  chapter  say  is,  then,  that  now  a 
new,  and  a  "great"  representative  and  sym- 
bolical figure  appears  on  the  scene.  The  word 
"heaven"  must  not  be  taken  as  indicating, 
strictly,  the  abode  of  the  blessed — that  is  to 
say,  it  must  not  be  too  literally,  or  exclusively, 
taken  in  that  sense.  In  this  place,  as  in  4:  1, 
where  mention  is  made  of  the  door  "opened 
in  heaven,"  the  word  indicates,  in  general, 
the  Apocalyptic  scene — the  great  theatre  upon 
which  John  sees  all  these  amazing  visions 
come  and  go.  We  cannot  conceive  of  the 
"dragon"  as  in  heaven,  in  the  strict  meaning 
of  the  word,  nor  of  the  "wilderness"  as  there; 
nor,  even,  the  "woman"  herself,  with  her 
"man-child."  Neither,  under  any  such  strict 
construction  can  we  readily  connect  with 
these  features  of  the  vision  those  subsequent 
ones,  of  the  war  between  Michael  and  the 
dragon,  the  wild  beast  rising  out  of  the  sea, 


with  other  like  figures  and  changes  in  the 
drama  as  it  proceeds.  If,  however,  we  con- 
ceive of  the  scene  of  the  vision  as  being  itnelf 
a  vision,  with  what  is  most  prominent  and 
most  fixed  in  it  belonging  to  the  spiritual 
sphere,  yet  so  broad  and  general  in  range  as 
to  take  in  the  earth  with  earthly  objects  and 
incidents,  the  firmament,  also,  with  its  stars, 
we  shall  better  apprehend  the  true  character 
of  the  description  as  it  stands.  Upon  this 
Apocalyptic  scene,  then,  thus  broad  and 
varied,this  "great  sign"  appears. — AAVoman, 
clothed  with  the  sun,  and  the  moon  under 
her  feet,  and  upon  her  head  a  crown  of 
twelve  stars.  The  passage  in  Canticles  {6:  lo) 
is  sometimes  quoted  in  this  connection,  as 
suggestive  in  its  parallelism:  "Who  is  she 
that  looketh  forth  as  the  morning,  fair  as  the 
moon,  clear  as  the  sun,  and  terrible  as  an 
army  with  banners?"  Beginning  with  the 
earliest  of  the  commentators  on  this  book, 
Victorinus,  whose  works  have  been  preserved, 
expositors,  so  far  as  we  can  find — with  the  ex- 
ception of  those  Romanists  who,  consistently 
with  the  fundamental  error  in  their  general 
teaching,  understand  b3'  the  woman  the  virgin 
mother  of  the  Lord — agree  that  by  this  "sign," 
this  new  figure  in  the  Apocalj^ptic  drama,  we 
must  understand  the  Church.  It  is  the 
Church,  taken  in  a  very  large  sense,  as  the 
spiritual  kingdom  of  God — "antiqua  Eccle- 
sia,'^  says  Victorinus,  '^patrum  et  prophet- 
arum,  et  sanctorum  apostolorum," — "  th« 
ancient  church  of  the  fathers,  the  prophets, 
and  the  holy  apostles."  It  is  this  church, 
however,  in  the  strictlj'  spiritual  sense.  The 
importance  of  this  distinction  will  appear 
when  we  come  to  study  the  fortunes  of  the 
church  as  in  the  wilderness— God's  faithful 
spiritual  remnant.  As  "clothed  with  the 
sun,"  the  church  here  appears  in  her  true 
character  as  "the  light  of  the  world."  It  is, 
saj's  Carpenter,  in  Ellicott,  "the  radiance  of 
her  Lord,  whose  countenance  was  as  the  sun  " 
(ch.  1:16),  and  caught  from  him,  as  reflected 
divine  glory  .shone  in  the  face  of  Moses  when 
he  came  down  from  the  mount.  The  moon 
under  her  feet  may  indicate  how  all  sub- 
ordinate lights  are  su-bject  to  her ;  or  it  may 
indicate  the  inferiority  of  that  which  shines 


166 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIL 


2  And  she  being  with  child  cried,  "travailing  in 
birth,  and  pained  to  be  delivered. 

3  And  there  appeared  another  *  wonder  in  heaven; 
and  behold  •'a  great  red  dragon, ''having  seven  heads 
and  ten  horns,  °and  seven  crowns  upon  his  heads. 


2  and  upon  her  head  a  crown  of  twelve  stars;  and  she 
was  with  child:    and  she  crieth  out,  travailing  in 

3  birth,  and  in  pain  to  be  delivered.  And  there  was 
seen  another  sign  in  heaven ;  and  behold,  a  great 
red  dragon,  having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  and 


al».  66:  7;  Gal.  1:  19 6  Or,  sign c  ch.  17  :  3 d  ch.  17:9,  10 e  ch.  13: 1. 


by  mere  reflection.  The  light  in  which  the 
church  is  clothed,  and  in  which  she  becomes 
the  light  of  the  world,  is  an  original  radiance 
— the  light  of  the  sun.  The  moon,  again,  is  a 
symbol  of  change;  the  sun  oi fixedness  and 
steadfastness.  Human  teaching  is  full  of 
change  and  fluctuation;  the  divine  teaching 
shines  steadily  on,  from  age  to  age,  whether 
the  heaven  itself  be  cloudy  or  clear.  The 
crown  of  twelve  stars  seems  to  be  an  allusion, 
once  more,  to  the  twelve  tribes  of  ancient 
Israel,  and  the  twelve  Christian  apostles. 
The  "crown"  is  the  garland  (o-re^^ai/os)  given 
as  a  reward  to  victors  not  the  royal  crown 
(«io8rj/ia)  worn  by  kings.  This  crown,  there- 
fore, is  not  a  symbol  of  sovereignty  ;  nor  is 
the  church  sovereign,  in  any  sense  of  the 
word.  It  is  the  symbol  of  her  overcoming. 
The  stars  are  representative  of  that  ministry 
by  which  her  function  as  the  light  of  the 
world  is  discharged.  "Twelve"  is  the  num- 
ber of  spiritual  completeness.  The  represen- 
tative allusion  is  to  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel, 
and  again  and  chiefly  to  the  twelve  apostles. 

2.  Aiid  she  being  with  child  cried, 
travailing  in  birth,  and  pained  to  be 
delivered.  The  revision  says:  "And  she 
was  with  child,  and  she  crieth  out,  travailing 
in  birth,  and  in  pain  to  be  delivered."  We 
are  here,  again,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Chris- 
tian Dispensation.  The  same  periods  in 
Christian  history  which  have  already  been 
exhibited,  under  the  symbolism  of  former 
vision-s,  are  now  agam  coming  in  view,  and 
the  kingdom  of  God  in  its  world-history  once 
more  appears  on  the  scene,  in  the  successive 
vicissitudes  of  Its  great  ordeal.  But  the 
vision  now  becomes  far  more  specific.  This 
same  point  of  beginning  was  indicated,  at  the 
opening  of  the  first  seal  («:  1,2),  by  the  appear- 
ance of  the  rider  on  the  white  horse,  going 
forth  as  a  conqueror.  Under  that  symbol- 
ism, as  we  saw  in  our  exposition  of  the  pa.s- 
sage,  was  exhibited  in  a  general  way  simply 
that  era  of  triumph  in  which  the  Gospel  Dis- 
pensation opened.  We  are  now,  again,  at 
the  same  point  of  beginning  in  Christian 
history  ;   but  we  see  how,  in  the  Apocalyptic 


order,  the  visions  become  more  distinct  and 
definite.  Consistently  with  this,  the  present 
one  opens  with  the  Incarnation — the  birth  of 
the  man-child.  In  his  human  nature,  Christ 
was  of  that  people  in  whom  was  embodied, 
under  earthly  forms  and  types,  the  kingdom 
of  God — in  that  sense,  the  Church.  This 
kingdom  of  God  did  not  pass  away,  nor  even 
in  its  essential  nature  undergo  any  change, 
when  the  old  Judaic  order  gave  place  to  the 
new  and  Christian  one.  Taken  in  this  large 
sense,  the  church  is  one,  and  is  here  repre- 
sented, as  we  have  seen,  under  the  symbol 
of  the  Woman,  clothed  with  the  sun.  She 
comes  on  the  scene  at  the  moment  when  that 
great  wonder  of  the  Incarnation  is  about  to 
transpire. 

3.  And  there  appeared  another  wonder 
[''sign"]  in  heaven.  It  is  not,  we  must 
again  observe,  in  heaven  as  the  especial 
abode  of  God  and  all  holy  beings,  that  even 
the  Woman  is  seen — for  the  church,  though 
heavenly  in  origin,  has  its  history  on  earth : 
neither  is  it,  as  some  have  held  ^Bede.  Bengel, 
et  al.),  in  heaven,  in  the  sense  of  the  Christian 
Church,  that  the  Woman  appears — for  the 
Woman  is  herself  the  church.  Neither, 
therefore,  is  it  in  heaven  as  taken  in  either 
of  these  two  senses,  that  this  other  "sign" 
appears,  but  in  the  Apocalyptic  "heaven," 
as  already  explained. — And  behold  a  great 
red  dragon,  having  seven  heads  and 
ten  horns,  and  seven  crowns  npon  his 
heads.  The  word  translated  "crowns," 
here,  is  not  the  same  as  in  ver.  1.  It  means 
"diadems,"  and  is  so  tran.slated  in  the  re- 
vision. It  denotes  sovereignty.  This  inaus- 
picious "sign,"  or  its  equivalent,  has  once 
before  been  introduced,  in  ch.  9:  11,  where 
the  same  being  is  seen  as  the  "king"  over 
that  thronging  multitude  of  evil  spirits  repre- 
sented in  the  imagery  of  the  locusts  out  of  the 
pit.  He  is  here,  as  there,  the  Abaddon,  the 
Apollyon — both  "Destruction,"  and  "De- 
stroyer." Only  now  his  symbol  is  still  more 
significant  of  his  true  nature.  He  is  the 
Dragon,  uniting  to  the  serpent  form  which 
he  chose  in  the  first  temptation  (he  is  ex- 


Ch.  XII.] 


EEVELATION. 


167 


4  And  "his  tail  drew  the  third  part  »of  the  stars  of 
heaven,  <^aud  did  cast  them  to  the  earth:  and  the 
dragon  stood  <^betore  the  woman  which  was  ready  to  be 
dehvered,  «lor  to  devour  her  child  as  soon  as  "it  was 
born. 

5  And  she  brought  forth  a  man  child, /who  was  to 
rule  all  nations  with  a  rod  of  iron  :  and  her  child  was 
caught  up  uuio  ood,  and  to  his  throne. 


4  upon  his  heads  seven  diadems.  And  his  tail  draweth 
the  third  part  of  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  did  cast 
them  to  the  earth:  and  the  dragon  staiideth  before 
the  woman  who  is  about  to  be  delivered,  that  when 

5  she  is  delivered,  he  may  devour  her  child.  And  she 
was  delivered  of  a  son,  a  man  child,  who  is  to  rule 
all  the  nations  with  a  rod  of  iron:   and  her  child 


ach.  9:  10,  19.... 6  ch.  17:  18.... c  Dan.  8:  10....d  ver.  2....e  Ex.  1 :  16...  ./Ps.  2:  9;  ch.  2:  27 ;  19:15. 


pressly  called  in  ver.  9  of  this  chapter  "that 
old  serpent,  the  Devil,  and  Satan"),  that 
most  hideous  one  of  all  which  earthly  crea- 
tures present — that  of  scaly  monsters,  dreadful 
to  the  sight  and  fearful  in  the  encounter. 
His  color  is  a  iiery-red,  denoting  the  rage  in 
which  he  hums  against  all  that  is  good,  and 
the  insatiable  spirit  of  destruction  that  ani- 
mates him.  The  seven  heads  indicate  that 
he  comprehends  and  sums  up  in  himself  all 
that  is  infernal  in  spirit  and  in  form,  while 
the  ten  horns  symbolize,  as  Lange  says,  "  the 
complete  world-power."  Upon  his  seven 
heads,  seven  crowns  are  seen,  denoting  the 
absoluteness  of  his  infernal  sovereignty.  In 
this  terrific  figure,  then,  we  have  presented 
to  view  the  consummation  of  wickedness, 
of  deadly  hate,  of  that  which,  Satanic  or 
worldly,  arms  itself  most  obdurately  against 
God  and  his  church. 

4.  And  his  tail  drew  ["rfrawe^A,"  pres- 
ent tense]  the  third  part  of  the  stars  of 
heaven,  and  did  cast  them  to  the  earth. 
The  mention,  here,  in  such  a  way,  of  the 
dragon's  tail  is  consistent  with  the  fact  that 
such  creatures  as  the  crocodile,  whose  form 
and  nature  are  in  part  seen  in  this  figure  of 
the  dragon,  have  so  much  of  their  power  in 
the  tail,  and  so  often  use  it  to  sweep  their 
prey  within  reach.  "T'Aree,"  says  Lange, 
"is  the  number  of  spirit.  A  third  is  a  frac- 
tion— in  reference  to  spiritual  things."  The 
frequent  recurrence  of  this  fraction  in  ch.  8, 
will  be  readily  recalled:  "the  third  part  of 
trees,'"  ver  7,  "the  third  part  of  the  sea," 
"the  third  part  of  the  creatures  which  were 
in  the  sea,"  "the  third  part  of  the  ships," 
ver.  8,  9;  "the  third  part  of  the  sun,"  "the 
third  part  of  the  moon,  and  the  third  part  of 
the  stars,"  ver.  12,  etc.  In  all  this  imagery 
physical  things  are  employed  to  set  forth  that 
which  is  spiritual;  and  it  has  already  been 
explained  as  denoting  disastrous  revolutions 
in  the  sphere  of  spiritual  things.  In  our 
present  passage,  as  in  the  former  one,  by  the 
falling  to  earth  of  these  stars  is  meant,  in  the 


words  of  Lange,  "an  apostasy  of  the  third 
part  of  the  spiritual  church — heaven.  These 
stars  are,  by  the  lashings  of  the  Satanic  tail, 
by  the  magic  of  an  apparently  prodigious 
vital  power,  cast  from  heaven  to  earth;  i.  e., 
from  being  stars  of  the  invisible  church, 
they  become  demonic  organs  of  the  extel*nal 
church,  and  of  Christian  political  order." 
Thus  is  indicated  that  apo.stasy  in  which  the 
Christian  ministry'  became  an  antichristian 
hierarchy.  The  description  seems  to  be  in 
some  degree  anticipatory,  looking  forward 
so  as  to  foreshadow  that  career  of  mischief 
which  subsequent  chapters  note  in  detail. 
The  fractional  "third"  is  not,  of  course,  to 
be  literally  pressed. — And  the  dragon  stood 
before  the  woman  which  was  ready  to 
be  delivered,  for  to  devour  her  child  as 
soon  as  it  was  born.  We  may  translate: 
"And  the  dragon  stood  [Anglo-American  re- 
vision, "standeth"]  before  the  woman  who 
is  about  to  be  delivered,  that  when  she  is 
delivered  he  may  devour  her  child."  The 
words  have  an  underlying  historical  sense, 
and  as  based  on  this  a  more  extended  figura- 
tive one.  At  the  very  moment  of  his  birth 
the  child  Jesus  encountered  the  hostility  of 
Herod,  thoroughly  Satanic  in  its  malice  and 
violence.  At  a  later  time  Satan  himself  was 
met  in  personal  conflict,  alike  in  the  temp- 
tations of  the  wilderness,  and  in  those  re- 
peated instances  of  demoniacal  possession 
which  seem  to  have  had  a  like  meaning.  But 
these  were  representative  of  a  wider  fact — the 
fell  spirit  of  hate  and  ho.stility  toward  the 
Redeemer  personally  and  his  whole  work  of 
redemption,  shown  by  him  through  whose 
malice  sin  itself  came  into  the  world,  "and 
death  by  sin,"  and  by  whom,  also,  all  the 
hosts  of  opposition,  age  by  age,  are  mar- 
shaled and  led  on.  The  dragon  standing 
before  the  woman,  ready  to  devour  her  child 
as  soon  as  born,  is  a  wonderfully'  vivid  repre- 
sentation, under  physical  imagery,  of  a  mo- 
mentous and  far-reaching  spiritual  fact.  ' 
5.  And  she  brought  forth  a  man-chilA, 


168 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XII. 


6  And  "the  woman  fled  into  the  wilderness,  where 
»he  hath  a  place  prepared  of  God,  that  they  should  feed 
her  there   "a   thousand  two   hundred  and  threescore 
■  days. 


6  was  caught  up  unto  God,  and  unto  his  throne.  And 
the  woman  tied  into  the  wilderness,  where  she  hath 
a  place  prepared  of  God,  that  there  they  may  nourish 
her  a  tllousaud  two  hundred  and  threescore  days. 


1  ver  4 h  ch.  11:  3. 


who  was  [is]  to  rule  all  nations  with  a 
rod  of  iron.  Mure  exactly,  slie  brought 
forth  "a  son,  a  man-child."  The  manhood 
of  the  child  is  thus  emphasized.  He  was  to 
possess  pre-eminent  manhood.  In  the  words 
that  follow  it  is  shown  how  he  is  "born  a 
conqueror,"  as  Lange  expresses  it;  in  har- 
inony  with  what  the  first  seal  disclosed  of  him 
who  went  forth  "conquering  and  to  con- 
.quer."  Here  we  read,  he  shall  "rule  all 
nations  with  a  rod  of  iron."  Conquer  and 
rule  them,  however,  in  a  way  all  his  own. 
The  word  for  "rule"  (Troifj-aiveiv)  \s  here,  as  in 
ch.  2:  27,  to  govern,  or  rule,  as  a  shepherd. 
It  is  the  same  word  as  in  the  Septuagint  of 
Ps.  2:9:  "Thou  shalt  break  [rule,  noiixavel] 
them  with  a  rod  of  iron."  This  man-child 
is  to  fulfill  that  Messianic  prophecy.  The 
nature  of  tlie  "rule,"  the  "shepherding,"  is 
to  be  especially  marked.  It  is  not  a  rule  of 
mere  force,  not  a  mere  exertion  of  arbitrary 
power.  It  is  such  rule  as  t.ie  shepherd  has 
over  his  flock.  The  staff,  however,  the  "rod," 
which  he  bears  as  the  symbol  of  this  rule,  is 
"of  iron."  The  sovereignty  exercised  is 
gentle,  yet  constraining;  it  is  the  rule  of 
love;  but  of  power  no  less.  He  who  exer- 
cises it  "shall  not  strive  nor  cry,"  yet  he  shall 
"bring  forth  judgment  unto  truth."  This 
rule,  too,  was  to  extend  to  "all  nations." 
Not  at  once,  at  least  as  an  accomplished  fact; 
but  ultimately,  as  a  supremacy  anticipated, 
announced,  even  at  the  beginning,  virtual, 
even  during  the  centuries  when  it  should  I 
seem  to  be  successfully  resisted,  and  in  the  i 
end  complete  and  unquestioned.  These  j 
words:  "who  is  to  rule  the  nations  with  a 
rod  of  iron,"  cover  in  their  significance  long 
ftges  of  human  history.  They  reveal  the 
thread  of  divine  purpose,  running  through 
all  the  confusions,  anarchies,  and  revolutions  j 
of  this  world's  affairs,  down  to  the  very  time 
of  the  end,  and  which  will  at  last  be  seen  to 
have  been  amidst  all  a  principle  of  order, 
ipaking  the  end  certain  even  from  the  begin- 
ning.— And  her  child  was  caught  up  unto 
God,  and  to  his  throne.  "After  a  con- 
flict," says  Alford,  "  witii  the  prince  of  this 


world,  who  came  and  tried  him,  but  found 
nothing  in  him,  the  sou  of  the  woman  was 
taken  up  to  heaven  and  sat  on  the  right  hand 
of  God.  Words  can  hardly  be  plainer  than 
these."  He  rejects  wholly,  and  with  reason, 
Elliott's  strange  notion,  into  which  he  seems 
forced  by  the  necessities  of  his  peculiar  theory 
of  interpretation,  that  by  the  man-child  in 
this  place  is  meant  the  Emperor  Constantine, 
born  in  his  conversion,  a  son  of  the  church, 
and  "caught  up  unto  God  and  to  his  throne" 
by  being  made  sovereign  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  united  with  the  solemn  public  pro- 
fession of  the  divinity  of  the  Son  of  man.  It 
is  by  such  violent  wresting  of  the  plain  mean- 
ing of  the  text,  we  must  again  say,  in  earnest 
protest,  that  the  book  we  are  studj'ing  has  so 
often  been  made  -to  seem  hopeless  of  satisfac- 
tory interpretation.  The  final  effort  of  the 
dragon  to  "devour"  the  child  was  in  insti- 
gating the  Jews  to  crucifj'^  him  at  the  last. 
But  that  crowning  incident,  which  seemed, 
indeed,  like  a  victory  for  the  dragon,  was  the 
triiwnph  of  tlie  Redeemer.  Erom  that  valley 
of  humiliation  and  death,  he  was  "caught  up 
unto  God  and  to  his  throne."  "  For  liim  hath 
God  exalted,  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  for  to 
give  repentance  unto  Israel,  and  the  remis- 
sion of  sins."  This  is  the  history  underlying 
the  wider  spiritual  significance  of  the  word.*. 
"Caught  up  unto  God  and  to  his  throne," 
means,  in  this  broader  view,  the  victorious 
reign  of  Christ  among  the  nations  from  age 
to  age. 

6.  And  the  woman  fled  into  the  wil- 
derness, where  she  hath  a  place  pre- 
pared of  God.  The  flight  of  the  woman 
into  the  wilderness  is  more  fully  described  in 
ver.  14.  We  reserve  for  the  comment  in 
that  place  our  exposition  of  this  significant 
but  diflicult  statement.  Here  we  may  simply 
noti(!e  that  this  flight  into  the  wilderness  was 
wholly  in  accordance  with  divine  purpose 
and  plan. — Where  she  hath  a  place  pre- 
pared of  God,  and  it  was  provided  that 
they  should  feed  [Rev.  Ver.,  ''ma;/  nnur- 
isA"]  her  there  a  thousand  two  hundred 
and  threescore  days.     Of  the  meaning  of 


Ch.  XII.] 


REVELATION. 


169 


this,  and  the  connection  of  the  number  given 
with  simihir  ones  before  noticed,  it  will  be 
better  to  speak  further  on. 

GENERAL   COMMENTS. 

It  is  important  to  remark  that  the  repetition 
of  the  same  general  subject,  in  vision  and  pro- 
phecy, is  no  unusual  thing  in  the  Scriptures. 
Exarajjles  are  readily  found  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. Thus  Joseph's  two  dreams,  as  related 
to  his  brethren  (Gen.  37:  511),  hud  the  same  sig- 
nificance, though  dift'ering  in  form.  Of  Pha- 
raoh's two  dreams  (Geu.  4i:  i-u)^  Joseph,  in  ex- 
pounding them,  said :  "The dream  of  Pharaoh 
is  one."  The  prophecy  in  Nebuchadnezzar's 
dream  (Dan.  2: 29-15),  of  the  image  of  gold,  silver, 
brass,  and  iron,  was  interpreted  by  Daniel 
with  a  meaning  identical,  at  least  in  the 
main  particulars,  with  his  own  vision  de- 
scribed in  ch.  8:  1-12.  The  Messianic  pro- 
phecies appear  under  many  forms,  some 
more  and  others  less  explicit.  Joseph  ex- 
plains to  the  Egyptian  king  the  meaning  of 
this  feature  in  the  prophetical  procedure : 
"For  that  the  dream  was  doubled  unto 
Pharaoh  twice,  it  is  because  the  thing  is  estab- 
lished by  God,  and  God  will  shortly  bring  it 
"to  pass."  We  may  thus  trace  in  it  a  double 
intention:  (1)  that  the  one  vision  or  predic- 
tion ma^'  confirm,  the  other;  (2)  that  in  study- 
ing them  together  they  may  mutually  explain 
each  other.  Necessarily,  prophecy  is  obscure. 
Couched  in  vision  and  symbol,  in  order  that 
it  may  the  better  serve  the  end  of  prophecy — 
which  is  to  foreshadow,  not  to  relate,  as  in 
history — it  is  to  be  comprehended  even  "in 
part"  only  as  a  result  of  much  study.  Such 
study  is  fiicilitated  by  reproducing  the  gen- 
eral theme  under  various  forms  of  representa- 
tion, as  an  artist  might  use  the  same  general 
subject  in  successive  pictures.  Such  is  the 
method  follov^ed  in  this  book.  The  same 
periods  of  Christian  history  are  repeatedly 
brought  under  view,  under  differing  aspects, 
yet  so  in  relation  to  each  other  as  that  they 
become  mutually  explanatory.  This  we 
have  seen,  already,  in  the  case  of  the  seals 
and  the  trumpets.  It  is  once  more  before  us 
in  tlie  relation  of  this  present  division  of  the 
book  (<^h.  i2;i9),  to  that  which  we  have  ju.st 
been  studying  (ch.  5:ii). 

It  would  seem  that  Alford's  view  of  the 
account  given,  here,  of  the  birth  of  the  man- 
child  is  too  strictly  literal,  and  Carpenter's 


too  little  so.  The  former  says:  "On  the  na- 
ture of  this  vision,  as  introductory  to  the 
whole  imagery  of  the  latter  part  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse ...  it  is  only  needful  to  add  that  the 
principal  details  .  .  .  are  rather  descriptive 
than  strictly  prophetical;  relating,  just  as  in 
the  prophets  the  descriptions  of  Israel  and 
Judah,  to  things  passed  and  passing,  and 
serving  for  the  purpose  of  full  identification 
and  of  giving  completeness  to  the  whole 
vision."  This  seems  to  imply  that  the  ac- 
count must  be  taken  as  simply  historical; 
and  in  the  details  of  his  subsequent  exposi- 
tion he  evidently  proceeds  upon  this  theory. 
Upon  the  other  hand.  Carpenter,  in  Ellicott, 
says:  "This,  then,  is  the  picture  of  the 
Church  fulfilling  her  destiny  in  pain.  Her 
Avork  was  to  bring  forth  Christ  to  men,  and 
never  to  be  satisfied  till  Christ  was  formed  in 
them;  i.  e.,  till  the  spirit  of  Ciiri.«t,  and  the 
example  of  Christ,  and  the  teaching  of  Christ 
were  received,  loved,  and  obeyed,  and  men 
transformed  to  the  same  image,  even  as  by 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord."  Even  if  this  re- 
moter meaning  be  found  in  the  passage,  we 
can  see  no  good  reason  for  rejecting,  or  pass- 
ing by,  that  which  is  nearer  at  hand,  and  so 
much  more  obvious.  May  not  that  story  of 
the  Lord's  human  birth  with  which  the  Gos- 
pels begin,  be  used,  here,  in  the  prophecy  as 
a  prophetical  point  of  view,  from  which  the 
seer  looks  forward  to  ages  of  the  future,  an- 
ticipating that  spiritual  outcome  which  lay, 
as  a  germ,  in  the  historical  fact?  This  ap- 
pears to  be  Lange's  view,  where  he  says: 
"The  ti7iity  of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testa- 
ment Church  of  God  lay,  doubtless,  much 
nearer  to  the  contemplation  of  John,  than  to 
that  of  an  exegesis  whose  view  is,  in  many 
respects,  too  exclusively  fixed  ujjon  externali- 
ties. Though  it  is  impossible  that  John  could 
have  apprehended  the  woman  as  Mary  her- 
self, yet  the  fact  was  most  closely  present  to 
his  consciousness  that  this  Mar3%  whose  bod- 
ily oflTspring  Christ  was,  was  the  final  concen- 
tration of  the  Old  Testament  Theocracy — the 
Theocracy  which,  in  its  inner  essence,  spiritu- 
ally gave  birth  to  the  Messiah,  and  which,  in 
respect  of  this  inner  essence  again,  continued, 
as  tlie  Kingdom  of  God,  in  a  new  and  New 
Testament  shape."  A  less  labored  exegesis, 
yet  one  which  for  that  very  reason  may  be 
more  satisfactory  to  plain  readers,  is  that  of 
Durham  ;    "This  description  of  the  Church's 


170 

REVELATION.                                   [Ch.  XII. 

7  And  there  was  war  in  heaven : 

angels   fought   'against  the  dragon 
fought  and  his  angels. 

"Michael  and  his      7      And  there  was  war  in   heaven:    Michael  and  his 
;    and  the  dragon         angels  going  forth  to  war  with  the  dragon;  and  the 

a  Dan.  10:  13,  21 ;  12:  1.... 6  ver.  3  ;  ch.  20:2. 

infancy,"  he  says,  "is  set  down  with  special 
allusion  to  the  manner  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  and  hi.s  coming  into  the  world:  (1)  as 
he  was  a  child,  born  of  a  woman,  in  many 
outward  wants,  so  are  his  people  brought  forth 
in  many  straits;  (2)  as  Herod  watched  to  de- 
stroy him,  as  soon  as  he  was  born,  so  doth  the 
devil  by  other  persecuting  instruments  watch 
the  Church  to  cru.sh  her  seed,  immediately 
after  their  birth,  as  it  were,  and  in  their  very 
infancy,  even  as  Pharaoh  sought  to  destroy 
the  Jew's  male-children;  (3)  As  Christ  was 
born,  and  preserved  till  he  had  finished  the 
work  committed  to  him,  notwithstanding  all 
of  the  enemy's  malice  and  craft,  so  shall  it  be 
with  the  Church's  seed;  (4)  as  he,  immedi- 
ately after  his  birth  was  pursued,  made  to 
flee,  and  carried  to  Egypt,  so  .shall  it  be  with 
the  gospel-church,  who  should  be  made  to 
flee  immediately  after  the  first  delivery." 
"Whether,  or  not,  we  carry  the  parallelism  into 
this  measure  of  detail,  the  general  thought, 
here,  seems  to  be  a  just  one,  save  that  Dun- 
ham appears  to  confuse,  in  some  measure,  the 
Church  and  the  Child.  The  Church  is  not 
the  Cliild,  but  the  Mother  of  the  Child. 

With  the  appearance  of  the  dragon  that 
representation  begins  of  the  forces  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  kingdom  of  God  in  its  progress 
among  men,  which  characterizes  the  division 
of  the  book  now  to  be  studied.  Its  Old  Tes- 
tament analogies  are  found  in  the  Book  of 
Daniel.  The  symbolism  employed  is  that  of 
monstrous  bestial  forms.  Chief  amongst  them 
is  this  of  the  dragon,  identified  as  "that  Old 
Serpent,  the  Devil,  and  Satan."  That  he 
appears  first  on  the  scene  is  consistent  with 
the  fact  that  all  opposition  to  God's  spiritual 
kingdom,  and  all  persecution  of  his  j)eoplc,  is 
of  Satanic  instigation.  We  shall  find  in  due 
time  how  the  dragon  (ch.  13.2)  gives  to  another 
of  these  monstrous  forms  "his  power,  and 
his  throne,  and  great  authority"  (lievision), 
the  formidable  yyower  there  represented  being 
so  recognized  as  simply  the  instrument  of 
Satan.  The  second  beast,  which  comes  up 
out  of  the  earth  (i3:ii),  in  his  turn  "exer- 
ciseth  all  the  jiower  of  the  first  beast"  which 
came  up  out  of  the  sea,  and  which   received 


his  authority  and  power  and  throne  from  the 
dragon.  Back  of  all  these  monstrous  and 
terrible  forms  of  deadly  hostility  to  God  and 
his  truth,  and  to  his  people,  we  find  the  dra- 
gon, whose  instrument  they  are,  and  who 
invests  them  with  such  attributes  of  terror. 
This  Satanic  element  in  the  whole  represen- 
tation, is  the  key  to  all  right  exposition  of  the 
visions  as  they  come,  one  after  another,  on 
the  scene. 

7-12.  Michael  and  the  Dragon. 

7.  And  there  was  war  in  heaven.  "And 
there  became  {ifivtto)  war  in  heaven."  "A 
war  broke  out  in  heaven,"  we  might,  perhaps, 
paraphrase  it.  Some  expositions  of  the  pas- 
sage now  to  be  studied,  appear  to  set  aside  its 
symbolism,  almost  entirely'.  Thus  Alford 
says:  "We  now  enter  upon  a  mysterious 
series  of  events  in  the  world  of  spirits,  with 
regard  to  which  merely  fragmentary  hints 
are  given  us  in  the  Scriptures.  In  the 
Old  Testament  we  find  the  adversary,  Satan, 
in  heaven.  In  Job  1 :  6,  he  appears  be- 
fore God  as  the  Tempter  of  his  saints;  in 
Zechariah  3,  we  have  him  accusing  the  High- 
priest  in  God's  presence  [how  singular  that 
these  should  be  taken  as  literal  and  actual 
occurrences!].  Again  our  Lord,  in  Luke  10: 
18,  exclaims,  'I  beheld  Satan  as  lightning  fall 
from  heaven.'  So  that  this  casting  down  of 
Satan  from  the  oflRce  of  accuser  in  heaven, 
was  evidently  connected  with  the  great  justi- 
fying work  of  redemption."  Is  it  possible 
that  this  writer  would  teach  us  that  Satan 
was  ever  allowed  to  be  actually  and  per- 
sonnlly  in  heaven,  as  an  accuser  of  God's 
children  ?  Is  there  any  place  in  Scripture 
where  the  language  used  is  more  evidently 
pictorial  and  figurative,  than  in  these  above 
quoted?  Carrying  out  his  theory  of  interpre- 
tation here,  Alford  must  hold,  if  consistent, 
that  this  "war  in  heaven"  was  an  actual 
occurrence;  that  in  the  very  presence  of 
God  in  heaven,  such  a  conflict  took  jilace;  as 
if  the  poetical  inventions  of  Milton,  in  his 
own  picture  of  suc;h  a  conflict,  were  veritable 
history!  We  once  again  place  over  against 
Alford's  literalness,  the  contrasted  view  of 
Carpenter,   in  Ellicott.      The  note  ujion  this 


Ch.  XII.] 


REVELATIOK 


171 


8  And  prevailed  not ;  neither  was  their  place  found 
any  more  in  heaven. 


8  dragon  warred  and  his  angels;  and  they  prevailed 
not,  neither  was  their  place  found  any  more    in 


passage  describing  the  war  in  heaven  is : 
"We  shall  fail  to  catch  the  spirit  of  its  mean- 
ing if  we  insist  upon  detaching  the  passage 
from  its  context;  and  the  more  so  that  the 
structure  of  the  chapter  seems  to  give  an  ex- 
press warning  against  doing  so.  The  narra- 
tive of  the  woman's  flight  into  the  wilderness 
is  suspended  that  this  passage  may  be  inserted. 
Could  wo  have  a  clearer  indication  of  the 
anxiety  of  the  sacred  writer  to  connect  this 
war  in  heaven  with  the  birth  of  the  man- 
child?  The  man-child  is  born;  boi-n  a  con- 
queror. The  dragon  is  his  foe,  and  the 
powers  of  the  foe  are  not  confined  to  the 
material  and  historical  world;  he  is  a  power 
in  the  world  spiritual ;  but  the  man-child  is 
to  be  entirely  a  conqueror.  His  rapture  into 
heaven  is  the  announcement  that  there,  in 
the  very  highest,  he  is  acknowledged  victor, 
and  his  victory  is  won  over  the  power  of  the 
old  serpent,  whose  head  is  now  bruised.  'The 
prince  of  this  world  cometh,'  said  Jesus 
Christ,  'and  hath  nothing  in  me.  Now  is 
the  judgment  of  this  world ;  now  is  the  prince 
of  this  world  cast  out.  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted 
up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me.'  Do  we  need 
more?"  Perhaps  not,  if  sutficient  scope  be 
allowed  to  the  words  quoted.  If,  however, 
they  are  understood  as  limited  to  the  work 
of  redemption,  victoriously  achieved  by  our 
Lord,  we  do  "need  more."  For  in  the  visions 
of  this  book  redemption  is  only  one  element 
among  many.  The  "war"  which  comes 
before  us  in  such  variety  of  phases,  covers  a 
very  wide  field  of  conflict,  and  involves  many 
issues.  It  is  a  war  of  hostile  forces  opposed 
to  each  other  upon  the  world-theatre,  and 
whose  vicissitudes  are  recorded  in  the  world's 
written  history,  as  well  as  a  war  between  the 
Redeemer  and  the  Destroyer  in  the  interest 
of  man's  redemption.  The  .symbolism  of  our 
present  passage — and  we  must  remember  that 
it  is  with  symbolism  that  we  are  dealing- 
brings  it  before  us  in  that  wide  meaning  and 
scope  which  takes  in  the  whole  conflict  of 
Christ  with  Satan,  the  kingdom  of  God  with 
the  kingdom  of  the  Evil  One.  The  scene  of 
it,  as  it  appears  in  the  vision,  is  the  Apoca- 
lyptic "heaven." — Michael  and  his  angels 
fought  against  the  dragon  ;  and  the  dra- 
gon  fought  and   his   angels.      When   we 


come  to  consider  ver.  11,  below,  we  shall  find 
help  in  the  more  full  interpretation  of  these 
words.  Those  who  are  there  represented  as 
oiiercoming  seem  clearly  to  be  they  who  are 
here  seen  to  be  contending — the  "angels"  of 
Michael.  The  weapons  they  use,  likewise 
(ver.  11) — "the  blood  of  the  Lamb"  and  "the 
word  of  their  testimony" — suggest  the  nature 
of  the  conflict.  Of  this  we  shall  have  more 
to  say  directly.  For  the  present  we  must 
observe  how  evident  it  is  that  the  word 
"angels"  is  not  to  be  understood  as  meaning 
angels  in  the  literal  sense.  It  is  not  through 
"the  blood  of  the  Lamb"  that  angels  over- 
come, neither  are  they  angels  who  have  com- 
mitted to  them  the  word  of  "testimony." 
Alike  the  conflict,  the  issue,  and  the  parties 
contending  are  such  as  we  find  again  men- 
tioned in  ch.  17:  14,  where  of  those  to  whom 
the  dragon  gives  his  power,  and  whom  he 
uses  as  his  instruments,  it  is  said:  "These 
shall  make  war  with  the  Lamb,  and  the  Lamb 
shall  overcome  them,  for  he  is  Lord  of  lords, 
and  King  of  kings;  and  they  that  are  with 
him  are  called,  and  chosen,  and  faithful,"  or, 
as  the  new  version  gives  it,  "and  they  also 
shall  overcome  that  are  with  them,  called,  and 
chosen,  and  faithful,"  the  words  in  italics 
being  supplied.  The  passages  are  so  evi- 
dently parallel  in  their  general  sense,  that 
we  must  view  them  a.s^  introducing  the  same 
characters.  "Michael  and  his  angels"  are 
the  Lamb  and  they  "that  are  with  him." 
The  "Michael"  of  our  present  passage  is  a 
representative  figure,  in  the  same  sense  that 
"the  Lamb"  is  so.  Only  the  former  one 
brings  before  us  the  Divine  Person  so  repre- 
sented, in  his  character  and  office  as  a  divine 
leader  and  prince,  as  the  latter  presents  him 
more  in  his  oflBce  as  the  suffering  Saviour. 
He  is  spoken  of  in  Dan.  10:  21,  as  "Michael 
your  prince."  By  the  dragon  "and  his 
angels,"  we  understand  Satan,  and  all  Satanic 
agents  and  instruments. 

8.  And  prevailed  not.  The  evil  power, 
though  with  all  its  hosts  marshaled  and  led 
on,  suflTers  defeat. — Neither  was  their  place 
found  any  more  in  heaven.  As  seen  in  the 
vision,  they  not  only  suffer  defeat,  but  are 
driven  off"  the  scene  of  conflict,  leaving  for 
Michael   and    his    angels   a   perfect   victory. 


172 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XII. 


9  And  "the  great  dragon  was  cast  out,  ''that  old  ser- 
pent, called  the  Devil,  and  Satan,  'which  deceiveth  the 
whole  world:  <'he  was  cast  out  iulo  the  earth,  and  his 
angels  were  cast  out  with  him. 

1(J  And  I  heard  a  loud  voice  saying  in  heaven,  «Now 
is  come  salvation,  and  strength,  and  the  kingdom  of 
our  God,  and  the  power  of  his  C  hrist:  for  the  accuser 
of  our  brethren  is  cast  down,  /which  accused  them  be- 
fore our  (-Tod  day  and  night. 


9  heaven.  And  the  great  dragon  was  cast  down,  the 
old  serpent,  he  that  is  called  the  Devil  and  Satan, 
the  deceiver  of  the  whole  i  world;  he  was  da'st  down 
to  the  earth,  and  his  angels  were  cast  down  with 
10  him.  And  1  heard  a  great  voice  in  heaven,  saying, 
-Now  is  come  the  salvation,  and  the  power,  and  the 
kingdom  of  our  (iod,  and  the  authority  of  his 
Chnst:  for  the  accuser  of  our  brethren  is  cast  down, 
who  accuseth  them  before  our  (jod  aay  and  night. 


a  Luke  10: 18;  J-hQ  Vi:  .fl 6  Geu.  3:  I,  4;  ch.  20:  2 cch.  20:  3....dch.  9:1 e  ch.  11:  15;  19:  1..../  Job  1:  9:   2:  5; 

Zech.  3 :  1. 1  Gr.  inhabited  earth. . .  .2  Or,  Now  is  the  salvation,  and  the  power,  and  the  kingdom,  become  our  God's,  and 

the  authority  in  become  his  Christ's. 


Those  who  view  the  passage  as  describing  an 
actual  conflict  in  the  actual  heaven,  of  course 
under.stand  by  the  words  just  given,  the  cast- 
ing out  of  the  rebel  angels.  There  is  no  good 
reason  for  supposing  any  reference,  here,  at 
all,  to  that  event  of  which  we  find  in  the 
Scriptures  only  intimations  so  very  obscure — 
the  revolt  and  defeat  and  fall  of  the  rebel 
angels.  Such  an  event  has  no  proper  connec- 
tion with  the  subject  of  these  visions,  and  can 
be  brought  into  the  interpretation  only  by 
giving  a  violent  wrench  to  the  words  as  they 
stand.  This  will  be  confirmed,  we  trust,  by 
what  appears  below. 

9.  And  the  great  dragon  was  cast  out 
[cast  down],  that  old  serpent,  called  the 
Devil  and  Satan,  which  deceiveth  the 
whole  world.  The  author  of  evil  is  here 
indicated,  by  his  attributes  and  his  deeds. — 
He  was  cast  out  [cast  down]  into  the 
earth,  and  his  angels  were  cast  out  with 
him.  We  have,  here,  another  reason  why 
what  is  described  cannot  be  the  fall  of  those 
"angels  which  kept  not  their  first  estate," 
since  not  "the  earth,"  but  hell — the  "outer 
darkness" — was  "the  place  prepared  for  the 
devil  and  his  angels."  Lange's  view  that 
what  occurs  is  the  casting  of  the  dragon  and 
his  angels  "out  of  the  inner  spiritual  church 
Upon  the  external  church  and  the  ecclesias- 
tico-political  institution,"  assumes  that  at  first 
the  dragon  and  his  angels  were  in  the  "  inner 
spiritual  church"  —  a  very  violent  assump- 
tion, surely.  Besides,  as  we  shall  see  presently, 
the  scope  of  the  passage  is  not  to  be  limited 
thus  absolutely  to  a  particular  period  or  event 
in  Christian  history.  The  victory  described, 
let  be  observed  again,  is  not  annihilation, 
neither  is  it  final  victory,  as  what  appears  in 
ver.  12  plainly  shows.  The  dragon  and  his 
angels  are  driven  from  the  field  of  view  com- 
prehended in  this  present  vision — the  vision 
of  "the  war," — but  they  have  not  abandoned 
any  of  their  fell  purposes,  and  will  soon  re- 


appear in  other  measures  of  attack  upon  the 
kingdom  of  God.  They  are  cast  out  "into 
the  earth";  by  which  we  simply  understand 
their  failure  in  one  form  of  assault,  and  their 
forced  withdrawal  to  another  and  for  them 
a  more  hopeful  scene  of  operations — "  the 
earth";  understanding  by  this,  not  merely 
the  world  of  human  abodes,  but  that  world 
as  seen  from  its  most  "earthly"  side;  that 
which,  in  itself,  "  earthly  and  sensual,"  easily 
becomes  "devilish." 

10-13.  The  Victory  Celebrated. 

10.  And  I  heard  a  loud  voice  saying  in 
heaven.  Or,  "And  I  hoard  a  great  voice  in 
heaven,  saying."  Now  is  come  salvation, 
and  strength,  and  the  kingdom  of  our 
God,  and  the  power  of  his  Christ.  In 
the  Greek  the  article  occurs,  and  should  be 
translated,  in  connection  with  each  of  the 
words,  "salvation,"  "strength"  ("power," 
Svvaixii),  and  "kingdom."  In  the  Greek, 
besides,  the  word  translated  "is  come"  {iyevero) 
in  the  common  version,  should  be  rendered 
"became,"  or  "is  [has]  become."  The  new 
revision  translates,  "Now  is  come  the  salva- 
tion, and  the  power,  and  the  kingdom  of  our 
God,  and  the  authority  (cfouo-i'a)  of  his  Christ." 
In  the  margin,  however,  it  has,  "Now  is  the 
salvation,  and  the  power,  and  the  kingdom 
become  our  God's,  and  the  authority  is 
become  his  Christ's";  the  second  "is  become" 
being  supjilied.  The  general  sense,  in  either 
case,  is  the  same,  possibly  made  a  little  more 
clear  in  the  second  form  of  the  translation. 
This  burst  of  heavenly  praise,  as  in  11 :  16-18, 
and  in  other  places,  seems  to  be  simply  the 
adoring  recognition  by  heavenly  beings  of 
the  new  manifestation  seen  of  divine  power 
and  grace,  achieving  victories  over  the  en- 
emies of  God  and  the  destroyers  of  the  world. 
We  trust  it  will  not  be  amiss  if  we  compare 
these  interposed  acclamations  of  thanksgiving 
and  praise  to  the  choruses  of  the  Greek 
drama.     The  four-and-twenty  elders,   repre- 


Ch.  XII.] 


KEVELATION. 


173 


11  And  "they  overcame  him  by  the  blood  of  thel   11  And  they  overcame  him  because  of  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb,  and  by  the  word  of  their  testimony  ;  *and  they  Lamb,  and  because 'of  the  word  of  their  testimony; 

loved  not  their  lives  unto  the  death. 


a  Rom.  8:  33,  34,  37  ;  16:  20.  ...6  Luke  14: 


sentatives  of  the  redeemed  church,  the  four 
living  creatures,  representing  the  sentient 
creation,  the  angels  encircling  all  with  their 
countless  hovering  hosts,  are  spectators,  along 
with  John,  of  the  successive  scenes  in  this 
far  grander  and  more  momentous  drama; 
and  as  the  chorus  of  the  Greek  tragedy,  from 
time  to  time,  gives  utterance  to  the  passion  of 
the  scene,  so  in  this  case  the  beholding  myr- 
iads of  heaven,  as  new  and  startling  exhibi- 
tions of  divine  power  appear,  or  fulfillments 
of  divine  purpose,  burst  out  anew  in  trium- 
phant songs  and  hallelujahs.  It  is  like  the 
"joy  in  heaven"  of  which  our  Lord  was 
wont  to  speak.  We  are  not  to  understand, 
therefore,  that  "the  salvation,  the  power, 
and  the  kingdom"  have  now  first  in  the 
history  of  the  universe  become  of  God  and 
Christ;  for  these  from  eternity  and  to  eter- 
nity are  theirs;  but  new  detnonstr  a  tio)is  of  the 
divine  reign,  in  power  and  grace,  are  seen 
and  acknowledged. — For  the  accuser  of 
our  brethren  is  cast  down,  which  ac- 
cused them  before  our  God,  day  and 
night.  The  Hebrew  Satan,  means  an  ad- 
versary who,  as  Gesenius  says,  "seduces  men 
to  evil,  and  accuses  and  calumniates  them 
before  God."  It  corresponds  to  the  Greek 
word  ((caT>)v<op),  here  used,  and  translated  "  rtc- 
cuser.^'  As  intimated  above,  it  is  altogether 
a  mistaken  literalism  to  understand  by  this 
an  actual,  i)ersonal  accusation  of  men  in  the 
presence  of  God.  It  is  rather  a  representa- 
tion, under  the  figure  of  such  personal  accu- 
sation, of  that  Satanic  agency  by  which  men 
are  seduced  to  sin,  and  through  their  sins  are 
brought  into  condemnation.  The  imagery 
recognizes,  in  a  graphic  and  striking  waj', 
the  part  which  the  author  of  evil  has,  alike 
in  the  sin  and  in  the  dreadful  consequences 
which  follow.  [It  is  scarcely  safe  to  disre- 
gard entirely  the  literal  sense  of  the  designa- 
tion, accuser,  or  accuser  of  our  brethren. 
For  the  arch-enemy,  ever  ready  to  fan  the 
spirit  of  persecution  to  a  flame,  in  State  or 
Church,  has  always  an  excuse  for  what  he  is 
doing.  The  early  Christians  were  accused  of 
Thyestian  feasts,  of  licentious  orgies,  of  dis- 
honoring the  gods  and  the  emperors,   or  of 


refusing  to  serve  the  state  in  this  or  that 
oflBce.  At  a  later  period,  the  humblest  and 
purest  Christians  were  persecuted  by  the 
Papal  Church,  but  always  under  pretence  of 
zeal  for  truth.  "Perverters  of  truth,"  "de- 
spisers  of  the  sacraments,"  "heretics  of  every 
name,"  were  assailed  with  accusations  of 
evil  before  they  were  brought  to  the  court  of 
the  Inquisition  or  sent  to  the  stake.  The 
Destroyer  is  also  the  Accuser.  And  these 
accusations  have  often  been  very  sanctimo- 
nious, made  as  it  were  before  God,  and  under 
the  plea  of  honoring  his  holiness. — A.  H.] 
This  ceaseless  activity  of  temptation  and 
Satanic  instigation  reaches  all  men.  Christians 
as  well  as  others— a  fact  strikingly  recognized 
in  those  places  in  his  Epistles  where  Paul  sets 
forth  so  graphically  the  perpetual  warfare  of 
the  Christian  soldier.  The  machinations  of 
Satan  are  especially  busy  with  such — "night 
and  day" — seeking  to  disturb  their  peace 
with  God,  and  to  bring  between  them  and 
him  the  clou'^  of  his  just  displeasure.  It  is 
of  such  that  the  heavenly  chorus  speaks — 
"our  brethren." 

11.  And  they  overcame  him.  The  ad- 
versary always  suflTers  final  defeat,  because 
"  greater  is  he  that  is  for  us  than  they  that  be 
against  us." — By  the  blood  of  the  Lamb, 
and  the  word  of  their  testimony.  Many 
expositors  seem  to  think  that  the  allusion  is 
alone  to  the  personal  triumph  of  the  redeemed 
soul  in  the  final  salvation.  Thus  Alford : 
"Without  that,"  the  shedding  of  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb,  "the  adversary's  charges  against 
them  would  have  been  unanswerable  ...  It  is 
because  they  have  given  a  faithful  testimony, 
even  unto  death,  that  they  are  victorious." 
Bengel's  paraphrase  of  the  previous  verse 
better  indicates  the  scope  of  the  passage : 
"The  salvation,  by  which  the  saints  are  de- 
livered, the  power  by  which  the  enemy  was 
overthrown,  the  kingdom  which  displays 
God's  majesty."  The  overcoming  has  refer- 
ence to  all  this.  Upon  the  verse  (ver.  ii)  now 
immediately  in  view,  Bengel's  comment  is; 
"Because  of  the  blood  of  the  Lamb — this 
blood  purified  the  brethren  from  all  sin,  and 
so  the  accuser  could   bring   nothing  against 


174 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIL 


12  Therefore  ""  rejoice,  ve  heavens,  and  ye  that  dwell  1 12  and  thev  loved  not  their  life  even  unto  death.  There- 


in  thcui.  I'  Woe  to  the  inhabiters  of  the  earth  and  of 
the  sea:  for  the  devil  is  come  down  unto  you,  having 
great  wrath, ''because  he  knowelh  that  he  hath  but  a 
short  time. 


lore  rejoice,  O  heavens,  and  ye  that  'dwell  in  them. 
Woe  for  the  earth  and  for  the  sea:  because  the  devil 
is  gone  down  unto  you,  having  great  wrath,  knowing 
that  he  hath  but  a  short  time. 


a  P;j.  96 :  11 ;  Is.i.  40 :  13  :  ch.  18 :  20. 


icb.  8:  U;  11: 10....C  uli.  10: 


-1  Gr.  tabernacle. 


them.  And  because  of  the  word  of  their  tes- 
timony— the  word  which  they  believed,  and 
because  they  believed,  they  spoke  and  gave 
testimony  to  it,  and  suffered  all  for  it.  .  .  . 
Where  there  is  such  power  in  the  heart, 
there  also  will  the  name  of  Christ,  and  the 
righteousness,  which  is  in  that  name,  be  con- 
fessed without  fear."  It  is  not,  then,  simply 
the  personal  overcoming  of  the  faithful  be- 
liever; it  is  his  overcoming,  not  only  as  con- 
tending in  Christ,  but /or  him;  Christ's  re- 
deemed one  and  true  soldier,  loving  not  his 
life  unto  the  death.  We,  therefore,  think  it 
limiting  the  words  quite  too  much  to  make 
them  mean  only  what  directly  concerns  the 
believer's  own  salvation.  It  is  his  whole 
battle  as  one  of  the  "called,  and  chosen,  and 
faithful";  standing  with  Michael  against  the 
dragon  "and  his  angels."  Particular  atten- 
tion should  be  given  to  the  force  of  the  Greek 
preposition  (Sti)  with  the  accusative  (Sii  to 
a'lxa — Sia  Toi/  \6yov).  It  means  "oM  account  of," 
"'because  of  [not  'by,'  as  in  the  common  ver- 
sion], the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  the  word 
of  their  testimony." 

12.  Therefore  rejoice,  ye  heavens,  and 
ye  that  dwell  in  them.  This  summons  to 
general  rejoicing  itself  shows  that  more  is 
meant  in  the  victory  over  the  accuser  of  the 
brethren  than  simply  the  redemption  of  be- 
lieving souls.  It  implies  that  it  is  a  victory 
in  which  all  heavenly  beings  have  reason  to 
rejoice,  as  the  "casting  down"  of  a  common 
enemy,  an  assertion  of  that  righteous  divine 
supremacy,  upon  which  the  stability  of  heaven 
itself,  and  the  per])etuity  of  blessedness  for 
those  who  dwell  there,  is  built. — Woe  to  the 
inhabiters  of  the  earth,  and  of  the  sea. 
An  important  correction  of  the  Greek  text 
occurs  here.  The  best  authorities  omit  the 
words,  "the  inhabiters  df,"  making  the  pas- 
sage read:  "  Woe  to  the  earth  and  the  sea." 
Lange  says :  "  Hengstenberg  rightly  refers  the 
sea  to  the  sea  of  nations,  and  thus,  here  also, 
a  contrast  to  it  is  formed  by  the  earth  as  the 
theocratic  institution  and  order,  as  ecclesia.s- 
tical,  and,  relatively,  ecdesiastico-political 
authority."     We  can  see  no  sense  in  loading 


down  a  very  plain  passage  with  such  pedantic 
lumber  as  this.  By  "the  earth  and  the  sea," 
it  is  enough  to  understand  the  world  in  wiiich 
men  dwell. — For  the  devil  is  come  down 
unto  you,  having  great  wrath.  We  un- 
derstand by  this,  simply,  that  in  the  changes 
of  the  vision,  the  adversary  is  seen  to  take  up 
a  new  theatre  of  conflict.  The  general  fact 
implied  is  the  persistency  of  the  dragon  in  his 
hostility,  and  the  fact  that  the  defeat  of  his 
machinations  in  one  direction  only  inflames 
the  "  wrath  "  with  which  he  continues  the  war 
in  another.  Other  considerations  presenting 
themselves  in  this  connection  are  noticed  in 
the  General  Comments. — Because  he  know- 
eth  that  he  hath  but  a  short  time.  "His 
season  is  short,"  says  Carpenter  in  Ellicott. 
"He  may  be  active,  sowing  tares  among  the 
wheat,  and  animating  various  hostile  powers, 
such  as  the  wild  beasts  of  ch.  13,  but  he  has 
only  a  season ;  there  is  a  limit  to  his  power 
and  the  time  of  his  power." 

GENERAL    COMMENTS. 

In  the  above  exposition  we  have  expressed 
our  dissatisfaction  with  that  view  of  the  "war 
in  heaven"  which  treats  it  as  "a  mysterious 
series  of  events  in  the  world  of  spirits,"  con- 
nected with  the  revolt  and  fall  of  the  rebel 
angels.  If  it  be  granted,  as  perhaps  in  some 
sense  it  should  be,  that  such  an  occurrence 
has  actually  taken  place  in  the  moral  history 
of  the  universe,  what  proper  connection  has 
it  with  the  subject  of  these  visions?  That 
subject  is  the  temporal  history  of  the  king- 
dom of  God.  The  fall  of  "those  angels  who 
kept  not  their  first  estate,"  does  not  belong  to 
this  history,  and  has  no  other  relation  to  it 
than  that  exceedingly  remote  one  of  a  revolt 
in  heaven  antedating,  no  one  can  say  by 
how  many  ages  on  ages,  the  fiill  of  man  on 
earth.  If  it  .should  be  .said  that  it  was  by  the 
prince  of  the  fallen  angels  that  man  himself 
was  drawn  into  sin,  the  answer  will  be  that 
the  book  we  are  studying  does  not  concern 
itself  with  that  event  in  the  very  beginning 
of  man's  history,  but  with  events  belonging 
to  the  history  of  his  redemption,  and  to  the 


Ch.  XII.] 


REVELATION. 


175 


final  victory  of  the  good  over  the  evil  of 
God's  universe.  Is  it  credible  that  events 
lying  far  back  m  the  fathomless  past — pos- 
sibly before  earth  and  man  had  existence 
even — and  having  only  that  remote  connec- 
tion with  what  transpires  on  earth  during 
the  Dispensation  whose  history  is  here  fore- 
shadowed, should  be  introduced  in  the  midst 
of  scenes  depicting,  Apocalyptically,  wiiat 
belongs  to  the  closing  periods  of  the  history 
of  our  race? 

Taking  the  view  suggested  in  our  exposi- 
tion, the  connection  seems  natural  and  evi- 
dent. The  figure  of  the  Woman  and  the 
birth  of  the  Man-Child,  represent  on  the 
Apocalyptic  scene  how  through  the  Church, 
as  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  Grod,  an  incarnate 
divine  Saviour  was  given  to  men.  Even  as 
he  is  born,  the  Destroyer  is  seen  watching, 
and  ready  to  "devour"  him.  The  Woman 
flees  into  the  wilderness,  whore  a  shelter  is 
provided  for  her.  So  much  of  the  vision  rests 
upon  underl^nng  historical  fact.  But  now  a 
scene  occurs  in  which  we  have  presented  in  a 
general  way,  along  with  what  has  just  ap- 
peared, a  comprehensive  view,  anticipative 
of  much  that  is  yet  to  be  disclosed  in  detail. 
"The  Captain  of  our  Salvation,"  "Michael," 
our  "prince,"  is  seen,  with  a  great  company 
of  faithful  ones,  encountering  and  overcom- 
ing the  vast  army  of  the  infernals — the  dra- 
gon "and  his  angels."  On  both  sides,  these 
are  representative  forms,  as  so  often  in  these 
visions.  They  represent,  on  the  one  side, 
Christ  and  his  faithful  followers,  faithful 
"even  unto  death,"  and  on  the  other,  the 
forces,  infernal  and  human,  with  which,  in 
all  ages  of  earthly  history,  these  must  con- 
tend. The  special  allusion,  however,  is  to 
events  occurring  at  the  opening  stage  of  that 
New  Dispensation  which  was  to  be  through- 
out a  scene  of  battle  such  as  is  described. 
The  issue  here  depicted  of  the  "war"  in  this 
its  first  outbreak,  may  be  taken  as  setting 
forth  tho?,e first  results  of  the  struggle,  in  the 
opening  period  of  Christian  history,  when  the 
gospel  won  such  triumphs  in  the  face  of  such 
an  array  of  formidable  and  deadly  opposition. 
In  this  case,  the  "casting  down"  into  the 
earth  of  the  dragon  with  his  angels  indicates 
that  the  "war"  is  by  no  means  ended.  The 
enemy  is  driven  off  the  scene  of  the  present 
vision,  but  he  is  sure  to  re-appear.  In  still 
greater  wrath,  and  in  machinations  still  more 


deadly,  he  continues  the  war,  only  seeking 
for  it  a  new  theatre.  The  earth  and  the  sea — 
the  inhabited  world  —  may  well  beware  of 
him.  Taking  possession  of  what  is  most 
"earthly"  and  "sensual,"  and  making  it 
devilish,  he  will  use  this — the  world-power, 
in  all  its  forms  and  forces — to  resist,  and  if 
possible  overthrow,  that  kingdom  of  grace 
and  power  which  means  such  good  for  men, 
such  disastrous  overthrow  for  him.  Thus  is 
foreshadowed  what  comes  to  view,  more  in 
detail,  in  subsequent  chapters. 

Where  the  Dragon,  or  Satan,  is  called  the 
"Accuser  of  our  brethren,"  and  where  these 
are  said  to  "overcome  him  by  the  blood  of 
the  Lamb  and  by  the  word  of  their  testi- 
mony," we  understand  to  be  indicated  what 
is  most  characteristic  of  him  and  of  them  in 
the  relations  they  sustain,  the  one  to  the 
other.  In  his  dealing  with  the  human  race, 
Satan  has  always  this,  as  his  chief  character- 
istic, that  he  seeks  to  ruin  man  in  his  relations 
with  God.  By  as  much  as  he  causes  sin  and  all 
evil  to  prevail,  by  so  much  he  brings  on  men, 
and  on  the  world,  divine  displeasure  and 
divine  judgment.  The  persecutions,  the 
cruelties,  to  which  he  instigates  wicked  men, 
have  this  for  their  aim  above  all — to  prevent 
the  reign  of  righteousness,  and  disappoint 
and  bring  to  nought  all  purposes  and  plans 
having  in  view  the  supremacy  of  truth,  and 
the  increase  of  holiness  and  happiness.  Thus 
he  is  the  "Adversary,"  the  "Accuser,"  who 
would  call  down  ruin  on  mankind  by  making 
them  like  himself,  and  bringing  them  into  the 
.same  condemnation.  He  is  resisted  and  "over- 
come" because  of  "the  blood  of  the  Lamb," 
and  because  of  the  witness  for  Christ  and  his 
truth,  which  the  faithful  bear.  The  victory, 
ultimately  to  be  so  complete,  is  grounded  in 
that  atonement  for  human  sin,  in  which  the 
Redeemer  struck  such  a  blow  at  the  very 
foundations  of  Satan's  kingdom.  Througli 
death  he  has  destroyed  ("brought  to  nought") 
him  that  had  the  power  of  death,  that  is,  the 
devil  (Heb.2:u).  Here  is  the  ground  of  the 
victory.  "The  blood  of  the  Lamb"  is  the 
hope  of  the  world;  and  they  who  "over- 
come" do  so,  just  because  of  the  shedding 
of  that  blood,  by  which  the  prayer  of  faitli 
is  made  availing,  and  all  endeavor  victorious. 
In  the  "word  of  their  testimony"  these  carry 
the  war  into  the  enemy's  own  territory.  It 
is  the  weapon  of  their  warfare,  made  "mighty 


176 


KEVELATION. 


[Ch.  XII. 


13  And  when  the  dragon  saw  that  he  was  cast  unto 
the  earth,  he  persecuted  "the  woman  which  brought 
forth  the  man  child. 

14  'And  to  the  woman  were  given  two  wings  of  a 
great  eagle,  "that  she  might  tty  ■'into  the  wilderness, 
into  her  place,-  where  she  is  nourished  «for  a  time,  and 
times,  and  half  a  time,  from  the  face  of  the  serpent. 


13  And  when  the  dragon  saw  that  he  was  cast  down 
to  the  earth,  he  persecuted  the  woman  who  brought 

14  forth  the  man  child.  And  there  were  given  to  the  wo- 
man the  two  wings  of  the  great  eagle,  that  she  might 
fly  into  the  wilderness  unto  her  place,  where  she  is 
nourished   for  a  time,  and  times,  and  half  a  time, 


o  ver.  5 »  Kx.  19:  4. 


r.  6 d  ch.  17  .  3 e  Dau.  7  :  25 ;  12:17. 


through  God."  They  "love  not  their  lives 
unto  the  death."  Such  has  been  their  record 
in  many  a  stormy  period  of  their  history. 
And  so  tru.sting  in  "the  blood,"  and  faithful 
unto  death  in  their  testimony,  they  overcome. 
While  the  passage  considered  has  this 
amount  of  scope,  in  its  general  view,  we 
must  emphasize  its  special  reference  to  what 
occurred  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  present 
Dispensation.  That  triumphant  era  was  a 
"casting  down"  of  the  dragon;  a  defeat  of 
Satan.  "I  beheld  Satan,"  said  Jesus,  "as 
lightning  fall  from  heaven."  Thus  did  he, 
himself,  in  imagery  like  this  in  our  present 
text,  describe  the  effect  on  the  kingdom  of 
evil,  of  his  own  glorious  victory  in  that  which 
he  came  to  accomplish  "through  the  suffering 
of  death."  So  far  as  the  words  we  have  been 
considering  reach  beyond  this,  they  are  an- 
ticipative;  in  their  more  exact,  and  more 
limited  sense,  they  describe,  in  effect,  what 
was  before  exhibited  at  the  opening  of  the 
first  seal,  and  the  sounding  of  the  first  trum- 
pet. 

13-17.  The  Flight  of  the  Woman. 

13.  And  when  the  dragon  saw  that  he 
was  cast  unto  the  earth.  When  he  re- 
alized his  own  discomfiture.  He  persecuted 
the  woman  which  [who]  brought  forth 
the  man-child.  As  the  birth  of  the  child 
symbolizes  the  Incarnation,  and  as  the  tri- 
umphant issue  of  the  struggle  above  depicted 
sets  forth  the  completeness  of  Christ's  re- 
deeming work  in  his  death,  resurrection,  and 
ascension,  and  the  wide  and  glorious  victories 
of  a  preached  gospel  in  its  first  ministration, 
so  here  we  have  brought  to  view  that  out- 
break of  persecution,  which  was  an  event  so 
momentous  in  Christian  history.  These  per- 
secutions, indeed,  began  with  the  very  first 
preaching  of  the  gospel,  as  recorded  in  the 
beginning  of  the  Acts;  but  from  the  time 
when  Paganism,  armed  with  all  the  power 
of  the  Roman  Empire,  made  its  a.ssault  upon 
Christianity,  during  many  long,  dismal  cen- 
turies, persecution  became  a  leading  fact  in 


the  history  of  the  church.  These  few  signifi- 
cant words  just  quoted  give  us  that  fact, 
summarizing  in  a  single  sentence  the  annals 
of  centuries  of  suffering  for  Christ's  sake,  and 
at  the  same  time  indicating  the  real  author 
of  all  persecution.  The  Dragon,  disappointed 
in  his  attempt  to  devour  the  Child,  and  now 
persecuting  the  Woman  —  Satan  assailing 
Christ  through  his  church — that  is  what  per- 
secution, pagan  or  papal,  or  whatever  other 
form  it  takes,  really  means. 

14.  And  to  the  woman  were  given  two 
wings  of  a  great  eagle.  ''The  two  wings 
of  the  great  eagle."  This  perhaps  empha- 
sizes the  allusion  to  like  imagery  in  the  Old 
Testament  (as  in  Exodus  19:  3,  4),  where  God 
commands  Moses  to  say  to  the  children  of 
Israel,  "Ye  have  seen  what  I  did  unto  the 
Egyptians,  and  how  I  bare  you  on  eagles' 
wings,  and  brought  you  unto  myself";  also 
in  Deut.  32:  11,  12,  "As  an  eagle  stirreth  up 
her  nest,  fluttereth  over  her  young,  spreadeth 
abroad  her  wings,  taketh  them,  beareth  them 
on  her  wings;  so  the  Lord  alone  did  lead 
him"  (Israel).  And  again  in  Isaiah  40:  31, 
we  read  of  those  who  "mount  up  with  wings 
as  eagles."  The  article  in  the  corrected 
translation  may  remind  us  that  the  eagle's 
wings  which  bore  the  woman  to  her  place  of 
refuge  were  those  on  which  the  Lord's  faith- 
ful ones,  in  all  their  straits  and  extremities, 
are  upborne. — That  she  might  fly  into  the 
wilderness.  Thus  we  have  again  taken  up 
what  was  so  briefly  mentioned  in  ver.  6.  At 
that  point,  the  vision  of  the  war  in  heaven, 
as  setting  forth  high  spiritual  meanings  of  the 
things  about  to  be  narrated  or  foreshadowed 
in  the  temporal  annals  of  the  kingdom  of 
God,  was  interposed.  The  main  vision  is 
now  resumed,  and  the  woman  re-appears, 
fleeing  into  the  wilderness. — Into  her  place, 
where  she  is  nourished  for  a  time,  and 
times,  and  half  a  time,  from  the  face  of 
the  serpent.  In  the  sixth  verse  we  road, 
"The  woman  fled  into  the  wilderness,  where 
she  hath  a  place  prepared  of  God.  that  they 


Ch.  XIL] 


REVELATION. 


177 


15  And  the  serpent  ''cast  out  of  his  mouth  water  as  a  I  15  from  the  face  of  the  serpent.  And  the  serpent  cast 
flood  after  the  woman,  that  he  might  cause  her  to  be  I  out  of  his  moulh  after  the  woman  water  as  a  river, 
carried  away  of  the  Hood.  I       that  he  might  cause  her  to  be  carried  away  by  the 

a  Isa.  59 :  19. 


should  feed  her  there  a  thousand  two  hun- 
dred and  three  score  days."  To  this  pre- 
pared "place"  she  now  flees,  and  is  there 
"nourished."  The  period  of  her  wilderness 
state  is  given  in  ver.  6  as  one  thousand  tv/o 
hundred  and  sixty  days ;  in  ver.  14-  as  a 
time,  times,  and  half  a  time;  "a  season, 
seasons,  and  half  a  season,"  so  Carpenter  in 
Ellicott,  translates — one  year,  two  years  and 
half  a  year,  or  three  and  a  half  years — once 
more  the  forty-two  months,  or  twelve  hun- 
dred and  sixty  days.  Here  we  have  another 
crucial  point  in  the  interpretation  of  our 
book.  In  the  study  of  it,  much  will  depend 
upon  what  is  understood  by  "the  wilderness." 
The  history  of  that  long  period  which  fol- 
lowed the  outbreak  of  wide  and  general  per- 
secution, may  help  us,  if  we  do  not  exact  too 
much  from  it  in  the  way  of  detailed  paral- 
lelism. Perhaps  no  one  word  would  better 
represent  the  conditions  under  which  Chris- 
tianity, especially  the  true,  spiritual  Christi- 
anity, survived,  during  the  period  while 
persecution  was  a  fact  so  common  and  almost 
inevitable  in  Christian  history,  as  the  word 
here  used,  "wilderness."  A  wilderness  life 
implies  hardship,  an  unsettled  abode,  a  being 
hunted,  outlawed,  and  oppressed.  It  is  a 
condition  where  there  may  be  devious  and 
bewildered  wandering,  with  scarcity  of  pro- 
vision, hunger,  thirst,  and  all  forms  of  suifer- 
ing.  It  is  that  which  stands  in  marked 
contrast  with  the  ordered,  safe,  and  happy 
manner  of  life  which  men  choose,  and  which 
few  are  willing  to  forego,  save  under  the  con- 
straint of  some  strong  necessity.  The  wil- 
derness life  of  Israel  on  their  way  to  Canaan 
is  a  perfect  example  of  what  such  a  life  must 
always  be  in  like  circumstances.  The  wil- 
derness, however,  may  be  a  refuge,  as  indeed 
it  was  to  ancient  Israel ;  and  one  fleeing  to  it, 
though  he  will  find  danger  even  there,  may 
be  safe  from  the  greater  danger  that  drove 
him  thither.  Now,  in  a  general  way,  this 
represents  the  Chri.stian  condition  during 
long  centuries  in  which  the  dragon,  and  the 
powers  to  which  he  gave  "his  power,  his 
seat,  and  great  authority,"  persecuted  the 
church.  These  powers  come  before  us  in 
chapters  immediately  subsequent  to  the  pres- 


ent one.     Here,  in  the  "wilderness"  state  of 
the  church,  we  have  a  general  picture  of  its 
subsequent  condition.    But  a  distinction  seems 
made  between  the  nominal   church  and  the 
real  one.     Even  in  the  wilderness  the  woman 
is   "nourished";   the  wilderness  is  for  her  a, 
place  of  refuge,  as  she  flees  "from  the  face  of: 
the  serpent."     The  nominal  church,  itself,  in, 
time  becomes  a  persecutor,  as  we  shall  see  in? 
subsequent  expositions,  and  the  object  of  this 
persecution   is  that    "remnant   of   her,"   the' 
woman's,  "seed"  of  which  we  read  in  ver.  17.; 
In  later  chapters,  we  find  the  apostate  church 
represented  as  the   Harlot,    drunk    with   the^ 
blood  of  the  saints.     The  distinction  so  im-, 
plied  must  be  recognized,  even  here,  although 
only  intimated  in  a  remote  way.     The  length 
of  this  period  of  wilderness   life  is  symboli- 
cally indicated   in    the    numbers    given,   the 
three  years  and  a  half,  the  twelve  hundred : 
and  sixty  days,  as  before  (ch.  ii :  2),  in  the  forty-i 
two  months  of  the  treading  down  of  the  holy, 
city  by  the  Gentiles,  as  also  in  ver.  3  of  the 
same  chapter,  the  thousand  two  hundred  and 
threescore   days   of  the   prophesying   of  the 
witnesses.    It  is  quite  clear  that  these  numbers 
all  relate  to  the  same  period.     It  is  the  period 
of  the    church's  wilderness  state.     Shall  we 
take  the  numbers  given,  then,  as  indicating 
an  exact  historical  period  ?    In  the  view  of 
many  ihey  should  be  treated  as  symbols,  like 
so  much  else  in  the  book  where  we  find  them. : 
Thus,  the  note  of  Carpenter,  in  Ellicott,  after 
characterizing    it    as    the     period    "of    the 
church's    trouble    and    persecution,"    adds: 
"It  is  not  to  be  sought,  by  any  effort  to  find 
some  historical  period  of  persecution  corre- 
sponding in  length  to  that,  lasting  three  years 
and  a  half,  or  twelve  hundred  and  sixty  days, 
or  j^ears.     No  such  attempt  has  hitherto  been 
crowned  with   success.     The   period  is  sym- 
bolical of  the  broken  time  (the   half  of  the 
seven,  the  perfect  number)  of  the  tribulation 
of  God's  people."     The  caution,  here,  is  wise, 
and  it  is  perhaps  safer  to  treat  the  numbers  as 
symbolical.      In    an    Excursus,    however,    at 
the  end  of  this  chapter,  we  off"er  some  tenta- 
tive suggestions  which  may  be  thought  worthy 
of  notice,  at  the  other  point  of  view. 

15.  And    the    serpent    cast   out    of   his 


178 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIL 


16  And  the  earth  helped  the  woman ;  and  the  earth 
opened  her  mouth,  and  swallowed  up  the  flood  which 
the  dragon  cast  out  ot  his  mouth. 

17  And  the  dragon  was  wroth  with  the  woman,  aand 
went  to  make  war  with  the  remnant  of  her  seed, 
»  which  keep  the  commandments  of  God,  and  have  "the 
testimony  of  Jesus  Christ. 


16  stream.  And  the  earth  helped  the  woman,  and  the 
earth  opened  her  mouth,  and  swallowed  up  the  river 

17  which  the  dragon  cast  out  of  his  mouth.  And  the 
dragon  waxed  wroth  with  the  woman,  and  went 
away  to  make  war  with  the  rest  of  her  seed,  who 
keep  the  commandments  of  God,  and  hold  the  testi- 


iGen.  3:  15;  ch.  11:  7;  13:  7....6cli.  U:  U....C  1  Cor.  2  :  1;  1  John  5  :  10;  cb.  1 :  2,  9;  6:  9  ;  20:  4. 


mouth  water  as  a  flood  after  the  woman, 
that  he  might  cause  her  to  be  carried 
away  of  the  flood.  The  more  literal  trans- 
lation is:  "And  the  serpent  cast  out  of  his 
mouth  behind  the  woman  water  as  a  river, 
that  he  might  cause  her  to  be  carried  away  by 
the  river."  This  is  supposed  to  refer  to  the 
troubled  condition  of  the  Koman  Empire, 
during  the  period,  especially,  of  the  barba- 
rian invasions  from  the  North,  and  when  it 
might  have  seemed  as  if  in  the  general  disso- 
lution Cliristianity  itself  must  perish.  The 
language  used  shows  how  in  those  violent 
political  upheavals  of  which  we  so  often  read 
in  history,  more  than  mere  human  power 
and  passion  are  at  work.  In  the  imagery  of 
our  passage  those  inundations  of  barbarous 
myriads  were  the  "flood"  or  river,  cast  out 
of  his  mouth  by  the  dragon,  that  he  m.ight 
destroy  the  woman. 

16.  And  the  earth  helped  the  woman, 
and  the  earth  opened  her  mouth,  and 
swallowed  up  the  flood  [river]  which  the 
dragon  cast  out  of  his  mouth.  In  the 
slow  process  of  centuries,  and  in  the  operation 
of  those  causes  through  which  races  blend, 
revolutions  subside  into  new  forms  of  political 
and  social  order,  and  new  civilizations  rise 
out  of  the  ruins  of  perished  old  ones,  the  dis- 
turbed condition  described  in  the  former  verse 
passed  away,  and  (comparative  order  and 
quiet  was  restored.  Of  tliis  Christianity  hiid 
the  benefit.     "  Tlie  earth  helped  the  woman." 

16.  And  the  dragon  was  wroth  with 
the  woman.  This  recalls  the  main  fact  in 
the  representation,  and  that  which  explains 
alike  what  is  already  described,  and  what  is 
to  be  told  in  the  chapters  following.  The 
wrath  of  the  dragon,  here,  is  the  clue  to  the 
whole  vast  complication  of  hostilities,  out- 
rages, and  persecutions. — And  went  [or,  v^ent 
away,  aii^A;r<:]  to  make  war  with  the  rem- 
nant of  her  seed,  vihich  keep  the  com- 
mandments of  (iod,  and  have  [hold]  the 
testimony  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  better 
reading  i-^  "the  testimony  of  Jesus,"  omitting 


"  Christ."  With  those  who  did  not  keep  the 
commandments  of  God,  and  held  not  the 
testimony  of  Jesus,  he  had  no  war.  Tliese, 
indeed,  as  we  shall  see  farther  on,  he  uses  as 
instruments  of  his  war  upon  "the  remnant 
of  the  woman's  seed" — those  faithful  ones 
who  in  every  age  have  been  true  and  worthy 
children  of  her,  "whose  is  the  adoption,  and 
the  glory,  and  the  covenants,  and  the  giving 
of  the  law,  and  the  service  of  God,  and  the 
promises;  whose  are  the  fathers,  and  of  whom 
is  Christ  as  concerning  the  flesh,  who  is  over 
all,  God  blessed  forever.  Amen."  (Rom.  9; 
4,  5.    Revision.) 

GENERAL   COMMENTS. 

A  few  points  we  must  notice  in  closing  the 
exposition  of  this  chapter.  The  dragon,  seek- 
ing to  devour  the  Child,  and  afterward  perse- 
cuting the  Woman  and  making  war  on  "the 
remnant  of  her  seed,"  suggests  two  main 
ideas:  (1)  That  Messiah,  the  Eedeemer, 
achieves  his  great  work  through  suffering,  as 
the  effect  of  his  encounter  with  that  Enemy 
from  whom  he  comes  to  deliver ;  (*2)  That  the 
history  of  redemption,  and  the  history  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  in  all  that  it  proposes  and 
achieves,  is  a  history  of  exposure  and  conflict; 
destruction  threatening  at  the  very  outset; 
flight  and  apparent  defeat  following,  yet  ulti- 
mating  in  victory  and  safety;  the  Child 
"caught  up  to  God  and  to  his  throne,"  declar- 
ing his  supremacy  and  foreshadowing  the  re- 
sult of  the  struggle.  Even  in  the  wilderness 
the  woman  is  protected  and  "nourished," 
and  there  remains  a  "remnant  of  her  seed.  ' 
The  "war  in  heaven"  presents  the  same  two 
main  ideas,  under  another  aspect. 

Both  Auberlen  and  Lange  call  attention  to 
the  fact  that  the  "one  Woman,"  in  this  chap- 
ter, "has  in  the  end  of  the  days  (ct>-  it,  is,  i9), 
divided  into  the  antitheses  of  the  Harlot  and 
the  Bride."  Even  in  this  chapter,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  same  notable  distinction  is  more 
remotely  indicated;  more  especially,  in  the 
mention  made  of  "the  remnant  of  her  seed." 


Ch.  XIII.] 


REVELATION. 


179 


The  phrase  implies,  prophetically,  exactly 
that  distinction  which,  we  know  from  history, 
in  time  grew  up;  when  the  great  body  of 
Christendom  apostatized  and  became  itself  a 
"persecuting"  power,  while  only  a  faithful 
"remnant"  kept  the  commandments  of  God, 
and  the  "testimony  of  Jesus."  The  way  is 
thus  prepared  for  that  subsequent  representa- 
tion in  which  the  Woman  is  seen,  in  the  one 
character,  as  the  "Mother  of  Abominations," 
and  in  the  other,  as  the  glorious  and  beautiful 
Bride  of  the  Lord. 

Opinions  among  expositors  vary  greatly,  as 
to  what  shall  be  understood  by  "the  wilder- 
ness." The  flight  of  the  woman  into  the  wil- 
derness, says  Auberlen,  "is  nothing  else  but 
the  passing  away  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
from  the  Jews,  and  its  introduction  among 
the  Gentiles."  The  wilderness,  says  Lange, 
"is  the  reign  of  asceticism.  She  is  borne 
thither,"  he  adds,  "upon  the  wings  of  the 
great  eagle.  A  super-terrestrial  spirit  of  re- 
nunciation in  heroic  spirits — existing  in  a  free 
form,  even  in  the  life  of  John — is  the  saving 
power  that  bears  the  New  Testament  The- 
ocracy, the  true  Church,  into  the  wilder- 
ness"— a  most  unlikely  solution.  Elliott  un- 
derstands by  the  wilderness,  "the  faithful 
Church's  loss  of  its  previous  character  of 
catholicity  or  universality,  its  invisibility  in 
respect  of  true  Christian  public  worship,  and 
destitution  of  all  ordinary  means  of  spiritual 
sustenance"  ;  a  view  quite  as  forced  and  far- 
fetched as  that  of  Lange.  Alford  expresses 
himself  as  "disposed  to  interpret  the  perse- 
cution of  the  woman  by  the  dragon,  of  the 
various  persecutions  by  Jews  which  followed 
the  Ascension,  and  her  flight  into  the  wilder- 
ness, of  the  gradual  withdrawal  of  the  Church 
and  her  agency  from  Jerusalem  and  Judea, 
finally  consummated  by  the  flight  to  the 
mountains  oh  the  approaching  siege,  com- 
manded by  our  Lord  himself."  Each  of 
these  may,  indeed,  be  included  in  the  idea 
of  the  wilderness;  but  can  either  with  any 
propriety  be  said  to  exhaust  the  .symbolism? 
Carpenter  understands  by  the  wilderness,  in 
the  most  general  way,  "the  hard  lot  which 
so  often  becomes  the  portion  of  the  Lord's 
people,  yet  in  the  midst  of  which  they  find 
unexpected  comforts"  ;  as  the  Psalmist  says: 
"Thou  preparest  a  table  before  me  in  the 
presence  of  mine  enemies."  It  would  per- 
haps not  be  too  much   to  say  that  each  of 


these  expositors  indicates  one  feature  of  that 
which,  taking  the  .symbolism  in  its  proper 
scope,  is  the  true  meaning  of  the  word  as  here 
employed.  The  kingdom  of  God,  having 
been  rejected  by  the  Jews  with  contempt  and 
persecution,  passed  over  to  the  Gentiles,  as 
Auberlen  points  out,  and  in  so  doing  entered 
the  borders  of  that  wilderness  which  was  to 
be  during  so  many  ages  its  place  of  sojourn. 
The  asceticism  of  Lange  was  one  feature  of 
the  wilderness  state.  As  Elliott  points  out, 
the  Church  now  becomes  devoted  to  exter- 
nalities, is  weakened  by  he-resies  and  divisions, 
cuts  itself  oft'  from  sources  of  "spiritual  sus- 
tenance," and  in  the  great  body  of  it  ceases 
to  be  a  church  at  all.  This  was  all  fore- 
shadowed, and  in  some  sense  typified,  in  that 
flight  of  the  Christians  into  the  mountains  of 
Perea,  mentioned  by  Alford,  at  the  time 
when  Jerusalem  was  "encompassed  with  ar- 
mies"; and  is  itself  emblematic  of  that  still 
wider  spiritual  fact  upon  which  Carpenter 
dwells — ^the  wildernesses  of  Christian  trial 
and  temptation,  so  much  a  common  lot  of 
those  who  must  still  encounter  "the  evil  of 
the  world."  We  can  see  no  reason  for  sing- 
ling out  any  one  of  these  as  exhausting  a 
symbolism  which  seems,  in  fact,  to  compre- 
hend them  all.  The  wilderness  to  which  the 
woman  fled  was  a  condition,  not  a  place,  nor 
is  it  fully  implied  in  any  single  historical 
incident;  and  what  that  condition  was,  the 
history  of  Christianity  during  many  cen- 
turies, while  the  Apostasy  prevailed,  abun- 
dantly shows. 

EXCUKSUS  A.— THE  FORTY-TWO 
MONTHS  AND  TWELVE  HUNDRED 
AND  SIXTY  DAYS. 

Occasion  has  been  taken  at  various  places 
in  the  exposition  of  this  and  previous  chap- 
ters, to  express  doubts  of  the  possibility  of 
any  historical  identification  of  specific  peri- 
ods, as  represented  by  numbers  given  in  this 
book.  It  may  be,  however,  that  the  subject 
ought  not  to  be  dismissed  with  only  the  brief 
notice  thus  fiir  given  to  it.  Should  any 
readers  feel  desirous  of  further  .study  of  it, 
what  we  here  supply  may  at  least  aftord  sug- 
gestions as  to  the  elements  entering  into  the 
question. 

Below  we  give  some  of  the  various  methods 
proposed  for  identifying  the  numbers  so  far 
mentioned  in  the  book  ;   the  forty-two  months- 


180 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XII. 


during  which  the  outer  court  of  the  temple 
should  be  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles,  the 
twelve  hundred  and  sixty  days  of  the  prophe- 
sying of  the  Witnesses,  the  twelve  hundred 
and  sixty  days,  and  the  time,  times,  and  a 
half,  during  which  the  Woman  should  be 
"nourished"  in  the  wilderness.  We  trust  it 
is  already  sufficiently  apparent  from  our  ex- 
position, ;hat  these  numbers  all  indicate  the 
same  period — that  of  the  troubled,  persecuted, 
"wilderness"  condition  of  the  church.  The 
Witnesses,  during  the  entire  period,  "pro- 
phesy, clothed  in  sackcloth";  the  outer 
court  of  the  temple,  representing  the  great 
body  of  the  church— all  of  it  save  that  "rem- 
nant "  of  the  Woman's  "seed,"  symbolized 
in  one  vision  by  the  inner  court,  or  holiest 
place,  is  '''trodden  down,"  subdued  under  the 
feet  of  that  godless  and  hostile  antichristian 
world-power,  perpetuated  by  the  great  Apos- 
tasy— here  represented  by  the  word  "Gen- 
tiles"; while  the  Woman,  during  the  same 
period,  dwells  in  her  prepared  place  in  the 
wilderness.  In  all  these  ways  that  now  famil- 
iar passage  in  Christian  history  is  brought  to 
view  which  describes  the  apostasy,  on  the 
one  hand,  the  precarious  fortunes  of  the 
suffering  "remnant"  on  the  other.  In  the 
numbers  given,  is  it  intended  to  indicate  this 
period  in  a  precise  way,  or  should  the  num- 
bers themselves  be  viewed  as  symbols? 

Our  exposition  shows  that  upon  the  whole 
we  think  the  latter  alternative  the  safer  view. 
So  many  attempts  at  the  identification  of 
prophetic  numbers,  or  periods,  have  disas- 
trously failed,  that  the  safer  conclusion  seems 
to  be  that  such  identification  may  never  have 
been  intended;  but  that,  instead,  we  should 
treat  these  numbers  as  in  the  same  way  Apoc- 
alyptic as  other  features  of  the  book.  Were 
any  attempt  to  be  made  on  our  own  part  in 
the  other  line  of  inquiry,  our  data  and  our 
conclusions  would  be  different  from  those  of 
any  of  the  writers  consulted  by  us.  We 
suggest  the  following,  as  hypothetical  and 
tentative,    merely. 

The  point  of  difficulty  is  to  determine  the 
date  at  which  the  twelve  hundred  and  sixty 
days,  the  forty-two  months,  the  three  years 
and  a  half,  shall  begin.  The  days,  it  is 
assumed,  are  the  days  of  prophecy,  each 
standing  for  a  year.  Knowing  the  point  of 
beginning,  the  terminal  {)oint  is  easily  ascer- 
tained.     It  is  (juite  essential,  however,  that 


this  terminal  point  shall  be  such  in  the  events 
then  transpiring  as  to  justify  the  theory  that 
they  do,  indeed,  mark  the  end  of  this  period 
of  Christian  trouble — this  wilderness  state  of 
the  church.  Our  exposition  has  made  much 
of  that  epoch  in  modern  history  whose  mo- 
mentousness,  every  way,  so  grows  upon  one 
the  more  it  is  studied — the  epoch  of  the 
Reformation.  Simply  by  way  of  experiment 
one  might  take  some  date  in  that  epoch — 
perhaps  the  notable  one  of  the  year  in  which 
Luther  publicly  declared  his  position  as  a 
reformer,  b^'  nailing  his  celebrated  theses  to 
the  door  of  the  church  in  Wittenberg — the 
year  A.  D.  1517.  Deducting  the  number 
twelve  hundred  and  sixty  from  this,  we  have 
as  a  suggested  date  for  the  opening  of  the 
period  in  question,  A.  D.  257.  Or,  if  it  shall 
be  preferred  to  select  some  earlier  date — say 
A.  D.  1511  or  1510,  our  point  of  beginning  for 
the  twelve  hundred  and  sixty  days  will  be 
A.  D.  250.  To  make  our  experiment  seem  at  all 
plausible  in  its  result,  this  latter  date  ought 
to  be  a  significant  one  in  its  relation  to  that 
condition  of  Christianity  represented  in  our 
book  under  the  image  of  the  Woman  in  the 
wilderness,  or  the  Witnesses  prophesying  in 
sackcloth.  We  shall  mention  three  things 
connected  with  that  date,  and  leave  them 
with  the  reader  for  such  weight  in  his  own 
conclusions  as  he  may  think  proper  to  give 
them. 

The  first  of  these  is  that  it  is  the  date  of  the 
first  general  persecution.  It  was  in  the  year 
A.  D.  249  that  the  Konian  Emperor  Decius 
came  to  the  throne.  His  predecessor  was  the 
emperor  Philip,  against  whom  Decius  had  re- 
belled, and  whom  he  had  dethroned  and  slain. 
Gibbon  says:  "The  fall  of  Philip  introduced, 
with  the  change  of  masters,  a  new  system  of 
government  so  oppressive  to  the  Christians 
that  their  former  condition,  ever  since  the 
time  of  Domitian,  was  represented  as  a  state 
of  freedom  and  security  compared  with  the 
rigorous  treatment  which  they  experienced 
under  the  short  reign  of  Decius."  Consider- 
ing Gibbon's  elaborate  depreciation  of  all  that 
other  historians  have  said  of  the  suflTerings  of 
the  Christians  under  pagan  persecution,  the 
words  we  here  quote  may  be  taken  in  their 
full  force.  In  point  of  fact,  this  was  the  first 
deliberate  and  organized  effort,  on  the  part  of 
a  Roman  emperor,  to  destroy  the  Christian 
religi(.in  throughout  the  empire.     Nero  s  per- 


Ch.  XII.] 


REVELATION. 


181 


secution  was  limited  to  the  city  of  Rome; 
Domitian's  was  directed  chiefly  against  those 
prominent  Christians,  the  surviving  relatives 
of  our  Lord,  or  those  who  were  supposed  to 
be  such,  in  whom  he  fancied  rivals  to  his  own 
imperium.  Whatever  more  extensive  meas- 
ures of  persecution  were  contemplated  near 
the  close  of  his  reign  were  cut  sht>rt  by  his 
death.  Trajan's  persecution  was  circumscribed 
in  extent,  and  reached  only  those  who  had  in 
some  public  way  abandoned  the  state  religion ; 
the  fourth,  under  Hadrian,  was  not  a  govern- 
mental matter  at  all,  but  was  simply  the  re- 
sult of  riotous  outbreai<s  in  some  of  the  cities 
of  Asia  Minor;  that  of  Marcus  Aurelius  was 
limited  and  partial;  others,  until  the  time  of 
Decius,  were  in  like  manner  partial,  and  in 
some  sense  incidental.  It  was  Decius  who  at 
last  realized  how  the  pagan  faith  and  worship 
were  threatened  with  destruction  through  the 
wide  and  rapid  growth  of  Christianit3^  By 
him,  for  the  first  time,  the  efl^ort  was  distinctly 
made  to  completely  uproot  and  destroy  the 
new  religion.  His  successors,  Valerian  and 
Diocletian,  followed  his  example.  Soon  after 
came  the  conversion  of  Constantine,  under 
him  the  disastrous  union  of  church  and  state, 
and  then  out  of  this  the  new  forms  of  assault 
in  which  an  apostate  church  became  itself  the 
persecutor. 

If  one,  therefore,  were  to  search  amidst 
those  early  centuries  for  some  date  at  which 
to  fix  the  actual  beginning  of  that  long  war 
of  oppressive  antichristian  powers  against 
them  that  "  kept  the  commandments  of  God 
and  the  testimony  of  Jesus,"  that  which  we 
have  named,  a.  d.  250,  would  seem  as  suitable 
as  any  other.  But  the  date  we  name  is  notable 
in  another  respect.  Speaking  of  the  interval 
of  twenty  years  between  a.  d.  248  and  268,  a 
part  of  it  included  in  the  reign  of  Decius, 
Gibbon  says:  "During  that  calamitous  pe- 
riod, every  instant  of  time  was  marked,  every 
province  of  the  Roman  world  was  afflicted, 
by  barbarous  and  military  tyrants,  and  the 
ruined  empire  seemed  to  approach  the  last 
and  fatal  moment  of  its  dissolution."  It  was 
the  time  of  the  Gothic  invasion,  succeeded 
by  so  many  other  inroads  of  barbarians,  under 
which  it  appeared  at  one  time  as  if  the  very 
last  vestige  of  the  old  civilization  were  about 
to  disappear.  It  might  not  seem  much  out 
of  the  way  to  select  this  as  that  point  in  mod- 
ern history  of  which  such  signal  foreshadow- 


ings  have  come  before  us  in  previous  chapters 
of  this  prophecy. 

The  third  circumstance  connected  with  the 
date  named  (a.  d.  250),  which  we  note  for 
such  weight  as  the  judicious  reader  may  think 
proper  to  give  it,  is  this:  At  that  point  in 
history,  certainly  as  well  as  at  any  other,  we 
may  locate,  in  a  distinct  and  definite  way,. 
the  origin  of  the  papacy.  Elliott,  in  Horce 
Apocalypticce,  evidently  assumes  that  this 
should  be  sought  in  some  specific  event; 
either,  for  example,  such  as  the  public  claim 
made,  a.  d.  431,  in  the  Council  of  Ephesus, 
by  the  legate  of  Pope  Celestine,  as  "a  thing 
undoubted  that  the  Apostle  Peter  received 
the  keys  and  power  of  binding  and  loosing, 
which  Peter  still  lives  and  exercises  judgment 
in  his  successor's,  even  to  this  day  and  always," 
— a  claim  twenty  years  later  reaffirmed  by 
the  legate  of  Pope  Leo,  in  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon, — or  in  the  recognition  of  this  claim 
by  imperial  edicts,  such  as  that  of  the  em-' 
peror  Theodosius  in  A.  D.  380,  of  Valentinian 
and  Theodosius  II.  in  a.  d.  445,  or  the  em- 
peror Justinian  in  A.  D.  533.  It  is  a  question 
whether  in  an  inquiry  of  this  nature  it  would 
not  be  more  correct  to  seek  for  the  roots  of  the 
great  apostasy,  rather  than  to  fix  upon  some 
particular  stage  of  its  growth.  And  those 
roots  would  be  found  in  the  gradual  develop- 
ment of  those  views  of  the  church  and  the 
episcopate,  out  of  which,  in  point  of  fact,  the 
whole  system  of  papal  usurpation  ultimately 
grew.  Of  course,  since  such  development  is 
always  slow,  and  more  or  less  hidden,  it  is 
not  easy  to  name  that  point  in  it  which  may 
best  be  treated  as  the  characteristic  and  de- 
cisive one.  And  still,  something  approximate 
to  exactness  might  be  possible.  If  we  were, 
on  our  own  part,  to  select  any  such  point,  it 
would  perhaps  be  the  age  of  Cyprian,  who 
became  Bishop  of  Carthage  in  A.  d.  248. 
Cyprian,  it  is  true,  like  Jerome  and  others  at 
a  later  date,  did  not  always  act  consistently 
with  his  own  church  theory.  The  theory 
itself,  however,  had  no  less  of  historical  sig- 
nificance on  this  account.  Cyprian's  doctrine 
upon  the  subject  of  the  church  and  the  epis- 
copate, as  presented  in  his  treatise  upon  "(TAe 
Unity  of  the  Church,"  shows  what  had  come 
to  be  authoritative,  if  not  universally  ac- 
cepted, in  Christian  teaching.  We  may  copy 
a  few  brief  passages.  After  having,  in  one 
place,  quoted  our  Lord's  saj'ing  to  Peter,  of 


182 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XII. 


which  so  much  has  long  been  made  (muu. 
16:18,19),  he  says:  "Although  to  all  the  apos- 
tles, after  the  resurrection,  he  gives  an  equal 
power,  and  says,  'As  the  Father  hath  sent 
me,  even  so  send  I  you,  receive  ye  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Whosesoever  sins  ye  remit,  they  shall 
be  remitted  unto  him,  and  whosesoever  sins 
ye  retain,  they  shall  be  retained' — yet,  that 
lie  might  set  forth  unity,  he  arranged  by  his 
authority  the  origin  of  that  unity,  as  begin- 
ning from  one" ;  that  is,  from  Peter.  "As- 
."urodly,"  he  goes  on,  "the  rest  of  the  apos- 
tles were  also,  the  same  as  was  Peter,  endowed 
with  a  like  partnership  both  of  honor  and 
of  power;  but  the  beginning  proceeds  from 
unity;  which  one  church,  also,  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  the  Song  of  Songs  (designated  in  the 
person  of  our  Lord,  and  says,  '  My  dove,  my 
spotless  one,  is  but  one.  She  is  the  only  one 
of  her  mother,  elect  of  her  that  bare  her.' 
Does  he  who  does  not  hold  this  unity  of  the 
church  think  that  he  holds  the  faith?"  From 
this,  then,  he  argues  that  for  him  who  is  not 
in  this  one,  indivisible  church,  salvation  is 
impossible.  What  enormous  structures  of 
hierarchical  usurpation  have  been  built  upon 
this  one  principle,  no  student  of  Christian 
history  need  be  told.  In  like  manner,  Cyp- 
rian holds  "the  episcopate  itself  to  be  one 
and  undivided."  And  he  adds,  "  Let  no  one 
deceive  the  brotherhood  by  a  falsehood ;  let 
no  one  corrupt  the  truth  of  the  faith  by  per- 
fidious prevarication.  The  episcopate  is  one, 
each  part  of  which  is  held  by  each  one  for 
the  whole."  It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose 
that  either  Cyprian  or  others  understood  the 
bearing  of  their  own  principles,  as  regards 
the  church  and  the  episcopate;  least  of  all 
can  they  have  foreseen  to  what  despotic  uses 
their  teaching  and  the  authority  of  their 
great  names  would  be  applied.  It  is  all  the 
same  true  that,  in  the  growth  of  ideas  such  as 
these  which  we  quote  from  him,  the  Great 
Apostasy  had  its  root.  Could  we  fix  upon 
any  date  as  more  likely  to  be  Apocalyptically 
foreseen  as  that  at  which  the  "wilderness" 
state  of  the  church  should  begin  than  that  of 
the  age  of  Cyprian  ? 

Tiirc-o  main  causes  of  disturbance,  corrup- 
tion, and  those  widely  })revalent  evils  and  suf- 
ferings which  characterize  that  state,  come 
thus  distinctly  forth  uj)on  the  scene  of  hi.story 
in  the  same  gen«>ral  period — hierarchical  and 
ecclesiastical  usurjjatioii ;   persecution,  delib- 


erate, systematic,  and  with  express  purpose  to 
root  out  the  pure  faith  of  the  gospel ;  and 
political  and  national  anarchy,  superinduced 
by  barbaric  invasions  which  make  the  whole 
•of  Europe,  for  a  succession  of  centuries,  a 
"wilderness"  indeed.  If  we  may  date,  now, 
the  beginning  of  the  twelve  hundred  and  sixty 
days,  or  years,  at  this  point,  the  middle  of  the 
third  century,  say  A.  D.  250,  we  shall  find  the 
period  in  question  closing  at  the  epoch  of  the 
Reformation — an  epoch,  next  to  that  of  the 
Saviour's  advent  itself,  most  auspicious  for 
Christianity  and  the  world. 

The  above  suggestions  we  leave  with  the 
reader,  for  such  entertainment,  be  it  less  or 
more,  as  they  may  fairly  claim.  It  will  be 
proper,  however,  to  connect  with  them  some 
notice  of  other  theories  proposed,  as  to  the  be- 
ginning and  ending  of  the  forty-two  months, 
the  twelve  hundred  and  sixty  days,  the  time, 
timrs  and  a  half  (three  and  a  half  yeafs). 
The  learned  Joseph  Mede,  whose  writings 
upon  the  Apocalypse  appeared  between  the 
middle  and  close  of  the  last  century,  begins 
by  claiming  it  as  demonstrated,  "out  of  Eze- 
kiel's  measures,"  that  the  outer  court  of  the 
temple  "contained  the  inner  court  three 
times  and  a  half  in  quantity,"  and  that  in 
accordance  with  this,  "the  time,  forty-two 
months,  allotted  to  the  profanation  of  the  outer 
court,  should  contain  the  times  of  the  inner 
court  thrice  and  a  half."  Forty-two  months 
are  three  and  a  half  years;  so  that  "the  times 
of  the  inner  court"  should  be  one  year,  or 
three  hundred  and  sixty  days— "each  day  for 
a  year."  From  which  he  concludes  that  "the 
visible  church  continued  in  the  primitive 
purity  of  Christian  worship,  answerable  to  the 
divine  measure,  three  hundred  and  sixty 
years,"  or  adding  the  five  "dies  embolismnles" 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five  years.  About 
A.  D.  365,  he  claims,  "began  the  idolatry  of 
relics  and  saint-worship  to  enter."  This,  how- 
ever, supposes  that  the  reckoning  of  the  three 
hundred  and  sixty-five  years  is  from  the  birth 
of  our  Lord.  If  the  point  of  beginning  be 
the  date  of  his  suffering,  then  by  the  received 
chronology  we  must  begin  the  twelve  hun- 
dred and  sixty  days  at  A.  D.  393  ;  if  at  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem,  A.  D.  70,  the  date  of 
beginning  will  be  A.  D.  430;  if  from  the  date 
at  which  the  Ai)ocalypse  was  revealed  to  John, 
it  will  be  A.  I).  454.  At  nearly  the  last-named 
date,  A.   u.  4TC,    the   western   emi)ire   finally 


Ch.  xiii.j 


REVELATION. 


183 


CHAPTEK   XIII. 


AND  I  stood  upon  the  sand  of  the  sea,  and  saw  "a 
beast  rise  up  out  of  the  sea,  ''having  seven  lieads 
and  ten  horns,  and  upon  his  horns  ten  crowns,  and 
upon  his  heads  the  "^  name  of  blasphemy. 


1  mony  of  Jesus :  and  i  he  stood  ujiou  the  sand  of  the 
sea. 
And  I  saw  a  beast  coming  up  out  of  the  sea,  having 
ten  horns  and  seven  heads,  and  on  his  horns  ten  dia- 


sDau.  7:  2,  7 6  cli.  12  :  3  ; 


passed  away.  It  is  clear  that  there  is  here  no 
satisfactory  point  of  departure,  and  upon  add- 
ing the  twelve  hundred  and  sixty  days  to  the 
several  dates  above  named,  the  reader  con- 
versant with  history  will  see  that  the  point  to 
which  we  proceed  remains  in  an  equally  un- 
satisfactory state. 

Elliott,  in  Horce  Apocalypticce,  selects  for 
the  point  of  beginning,  A.  D.  533,  the  date  of 
the  celebrated  letter  of  the  emperor  Justinian 
to  the  Pope,  in  which  the  latter  was  formally 
recognized  as  head  of  the  church.  Adding 
the  twelve  hundred  and  sixty  years,  and 
we  are  brought  to  the  date  of  the  French 
Kevolution.  The  reader  will  readily  under- 
stand that  it  needs  all  Elliott's  ingenuity  to 
make  this  seem  like  the  epoch  of  deliverance 
and  triumph  which  the  prophecy  imports. 

Bengel's  theories  as  to  the  interpretation  of 
Apocalyptic  numbers  have  been  completely 
discredited  by  the  result.  As  a  significant 
example,  however,  of  the  mistakes  that  very 
learned  and  entirely  sincere  men  have  made 
in  dealing  with  matters  of  this  kind,  we  may 
note  what  he  proposes  upon  the  matter  in 
hand.  His  point  of  departure  is  the  determi- 
nation of  the  value  of  a  prophetic  year. 
With  this  view,  he  takes  the  number  GHB  in 
ch.  13:  18,  and  comparing  it  with  the  forty-two 
months  given  in  ver.  5  of  the  same  chapter  as 
the  period  during  which  the  beast  should 
"continue,"  he  decides  that  the  two  numbers 
correspond,  and  that  they  each  represent 
"the  time  of  the  beast."  He  then  divides 
six  hundred  and  sixty-six,  which  he  regards 
as  six  hundred  and  sixty-six  days  (or  years), 
by  forty-two,  and  finds,  as  the  result,  that  a 
prophetic  month  is  fifteen  and  six-sevenths 
days  (years).  Neglecting  the  fraction,  he 
decides  that  a  prophetic  day  is  about  half  a 
year.  Proceeding  upon  this  basis,  he  finds 
that  "twelve  hundred  and  sixty  prophetic 
days  are  six  hundred  and  fifty-seven  full 
ordinary  years."  He  then  takes  for  his  point 
of  departure  the  year  a.  d.  804,  and  adding 
657,  finds  the  twelve  hundred  and  sixty  days 
closing  in  A.  d.  1521.     It  was  in  A.  D.  864,  he 


claims,  that  "the  woman  obtained  a  firm 
place  in  the  wilderness,  in  Europe,  especially 
in  Bohemia;  and  there,  in  particular,  she  was 
fed,  until  more  free  and  more  abundant  food 
was  vouchsafed  to  her  by  means  of  the  Re- 
formation. The  close  of  the  one  thousand 
two  hundred  and  sixty  days  is  the  Refor- 
mation.' 

In  what  we  have  written  above,  in  the  first 
part  of  this  Excursus,  it  has  not  been  our 
purpose  to  add  another  to  the  list  of  con- 
fidently proposed  solutions  of  the  question  iu 
hand.  We  aim  simply  to  offer  suggestions, 
or  what  we  may  call  hypothetical  tests,  for 
the  use  of  any  who  may  be  interested  in  in- 
quiries of  this  nature,  or  who  may  think 
them  essential  in  a  comment  upon  books  like 
the  Apocal3'pse. 

THE  REVELATION  OF  ANTICHRIST. 
1-10.  The  Wild  Beast  Out  or  the 
Sea.  And  I  stood  upon  the  sand  of  the 
sea.  According  to  the  corrected  reading  by 
best  manuscripts  it  should  read  "/*<■  stood" 
(«(TT(i9r)),  meaning  the  dragon.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  the  Revised  Version  also  places 
the  words:  "and  he  stood  upon  the  sand  of 
the  sea,"  at  the  close  of  the  last  chapter. 
Their  most  natural  connection,  indeed,  would 
seem  to  be  with  the  seventeenth  verse  of  that 
chapter:  still,  they  have  also  a  connection 
with  what  follows  in  the  present,  although  a 
remoter,  and,  perhaps,  less  obvious  one.  The 
arrangement  which  places  these  words  at  the 
seventeenth  verse  of  chapter  twelve  seems  to 
be,  upon  the  whole,  preferable,  while  it  is 
also  according  to  the  best  manuscript  au- 
thority. "The  sea"  is  by  most  interjireters — 
Dusterdieck,  however,  strongly  objecting — 
taken  symbolically;  as  representing  "the 
great,  restless  mass  of  human  kind."  (Car- 
penter, in  Ellicott):  "the  billowy  life  of 
peoples."  (Lange):  "the  sea  of  nations." 
(Victorinus  and  many  others):  "Europe." 
(Bengel) :  "the  commotions  then  taking 
place  in  the  world."  (Thomas  Scott).  It 
should  be  kept  in  mind,  however,  that  in  the 


184 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIII. 


2  "And  the  beast  which  I  saw  was  like  unto  a  leopard, 
*and  his  feet  were  as  Ihit  feel  of  a  bear,  ^and  his  mouth 
as  the  mouth  of  a  lion:  and  ■'the  dragon  gave  him  his 
power,  'and  his  seat, /and  great  authority. 


2  dems,  and  upon  his  beads  names  of  blasphemy.  And 
the  beast  which  I  saw  was  like  unto  a  leopard,  and 
his  feet  were  as  the  feet  of  a  bear,  and  his  mouth  as 
the  mouth  of  a  lion:  and  the  dragon  gave  him  his 


iDau.  7:  6.... 6  D:.n.  7:5....c  Daii.  7:  ■t....dch. 


ch.  16:  10..../ch.  12:  14. 


vision  !i  sea  appears,  which,  although  it  he  one 
feature  of  a  vision,  is  wholly  real  to  John  as 
he  gazes  upon  it,  while  on  the  "sand,"  or 
shore  of  the  sea,  he  beholds  the  dragon  stand- 
ing. The  Apocalyptic  significance  of  what 
he  beholds,  is  another  thing. — And  saw  a 
beast  rise  ["rising,"  in  Greek  the  present 
participle]  up  out  of  the  sea.  Adopting 
the  rendering,  "and  he  stood  upon  the  sand 
of  the  sea,"  we  must  change  these  following 
words  to,  "and  /  saw,"  etc.  Of  the  beast 
which  thus  ri.ses  we  shall  speak  directly. 
For  the  present  it  suffices  to  note  the  force  of 
the  word  in  the  Greek  (eijpiof),  "wild  beast." 
A  distinction  is  to  be  noted  between  it  and 
the  word  which  denotes  the  animal  nature, 
simply  iiwov) ;  or,  as  Carpenter  expresses  it, 
the  former  [Oripiov),  is  a  word  which  "makes 
the  beast  nature  predominant."  The  word  in 
this  place  implies  ferocity  and  destructiveness. 
— Having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns. 
"Having  ten  horns  and  seven  heads,"  in 
the  corrected  reading.  The  numbers,  here, 
might  be  treated  as  pure  symbols,  each  ex- 
pressing in  its  own  way  the  idea  of  complete- 
ness— that  the  formidable  power  represented 
combines  all  the  elements  essential  alike  to 
its  nature  and  its  operations ;  seven  expressing 
this  idea  of  completeness  in  a  general  way, 
and  ten  the  same  idea  in  specific  applications 
to  what  is  worldly,  especially  that  which 
relates  to  nations  and  their  rulers.  Reasons 
will  appear  below,  however,  for  at  least  asso- 
ciating with  this  general  symbolism  what  is 
more  actual  and  historical. — And  upon  his 
horns  ten  crowns.  "Diadems,"  may  indi- 
cate better  the  exact  meaning.  They  are,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  dragon,  symbols  of  sover- 
eignty.—And  upon  his  heads  the  name 
of  blasphemy.  The  Alexandrine  manu- 
script reads  "  names  "(oi-oMaTa).  Westcott  and 
Hort  adopt  this  reading  in  their  Greek  text, 
and  the  revision  follows  it  in  the  translation. 
The  whole  clause  will  then  read,  "having  ten 
horns  and  seven  heads,  and  upon  his  horns 
ten  diadems,  and  upon  his  lieads  names  of 
bliisphemy." 

2.  And  the  beast  which  I  saw  was  like 
unto  a  leopard,  and  his  feet  were  as  the 


feet  of  a  bear,  and  his  mouth  as  the 
mouth  of  a  lion.  Important  help,  now, 
may  be  obtained  in  the  interpretation  of  the 
entire  passage,  with  the  words  immediately 
in  hand,  by  a  reference  to  Dan.  7 :  1-6.  In 
the  vision  there  described  is  "a  sea,"  upon 
which  "the  four  winds  of  heaven  strive" — a 
representation  of  the  stormy,  tumultuous, 
national  life  of  the  world.  Three  beasts  are 
seen  to  arise  out  of  the  sea,  one  like  a  lion, 
another  like  a  bear,  the  third  like  a  leopard. 
In  the  vision  which  John  sees,  these  three  are 
united  in  one.  The  bestial  forms  in  Daniel 
are  understood  to  represent,  the  first  the 
Chaldean  kingdom,  the  second  the  Medo- 
Persian,  the  third  the  Grecian.  After  these 
kingdoms  was  to  come  a  fourth,  recognized 
as  the  Roman,  and  represented  in  the  vision 
by  "a  fourth  beast,  dreadful  and  terrible, 
and  strong  exceedinglj'."  Turning  to  John's 
vision,  we  find,  as  above  said,  the  three  first 
beasts  of  Daniel's  vision  combined  in  one — 
leopard,  bear,  and  lion.  John's  vision,  there- 
fore, so  far  blends  in  a  single  representation 
the  bestial  forms  in  that  of  Daniel.  The 
characteristic  feature  in  the  vision  of  John  is 
the  grouping  or  blending  of  the  symbolical 
forms  seen ;  while  in  Daniel  it  is  their  in- 
dividualizntion.  Where,  then,  in  John's 
grouping  of  many  in  one,  shall  we  find 
Daniel's  fourth  beast?  It  will  be  noticed 
that  Daniel  does  not  compare  his  fourth 
beast  to  any  one  animal  form,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  others;  but  describes  it  in  general  terms 
only.  It  is  "dreadful  and  terrible,  and 
strong  exceedingly."  We  may  first  notice 
what  Auberlen  says  upon  this:  "His," 
John's,  "beast  rises  up  out  of  the  sea,  as  the 
four  beasts  of  Daniel;  it  hasten  horns,  like 
Daniel's  fourth  beast;  finally,  it  is  composed 
of  lion,  bear,  and  leo{)ard :  that  is,  of  the 
Danielle  beasts.  The  fourth  beast,  it  is  true, 
is  not  mentioned,  because  it  cannot  be  com- 
pared with  any  other;  but  it  is  indicated  by 
the  ten  horns."  If  we  follow  Auberlen,  then, 
the  head,  in  John's  vision,  which  bears  the 
ten  horns,  will  correspond  with  Daniel's 
fourth  beast.  Auberlen  represents  tliis  as  the 
seventh  head,  by  which  he  understands  "the 


Ch.  XIII.] 


REVELATIOK 


185 


Gprmano-Slavonic  Kingdom,"  or  group  of 
kin-rdoms,  into  which  the  Koman  Empire 
upon  its  dissolution  broi^e  up,  or  which  em- 
braced, in  a  general  wa^',  the  territory  which 
the  empire  had  covered.  Viewing  the  seven 
heads  as  representing  seven  world-powers, 
which  in  history  appear  as  hostile  to  the 
people  and  kingdom  of  God,  he  names  them 
as  follows:  "1.  Egypt,  2.  Assyria,  3.  Baby- 
lon. 4.  Medo-Per»ia,  5.  Greece.  The  Roman 
is  the  sixth,  and  the  Germano-Slavonic  King- 
dom is  the  seventh."  With  this  view,  Elli- 
cott's  commentary  seems  in  the  main  to 
agree.  In  the  note  upon  the  parallel  passage 
in  ch.  17  :  10,  of  our  book,  it  says:  "Daniel 
saw  four  wild  beasts  arise  from  the  sea;  they 
represented  the  three  great  world-powers, 
Babj'lon,  and  its  three  successors,  Persia, 
Greece,  and  Rome.  This  is  a  guide  to  us 
here,  as  most  commentators  admit ;  but  two 
great  world-powers  had  preceded  Babylon, 
viz.,  Egypt  and  Assyria;  these  figure  in  the 
ancient  prophecies  as  forces  hostile  to  the 
righteous  King.  St.  John,  whose  visions  took 
the  range  of  the  world's  drama,  could  not  see 
the  representative  of  the  ever-rising  spirit  of 
worldly  hostility  to  God's  chosen,  without 
seeing  Egypt  and  Assyria  included.  The 
voices  of  Moses  and  Isaiah  called  to  him 
across  the  centuries  that  in  these  the  world- 
principle  of  that  day  found  its  clearest  and 
strongest  manifestation.  In  various  empires 
the  world-power  showed  itself:  in  Eg.ypt,  the 
house  of  bondage  (Ex.  20:2);  in  Assyria,  that 
exalted  herself  against  God  (isa.37: 23) ;  in 
Babylon,  the  hammer  of  the  whole  earth 
(jer. 50:23);  in  Persia  and  in  Greece;  and  in 
succession  these  kingdoms  fell,  only  to  be 
succeeded  by  another— Rome.  Five  fell  [ch. 
17 :  10] ;  the  one  is.  But  what  is  the  seventh, 
the  other  which  is  yet  to  come?  We  must 
recall  the  appearance  of  the  wild  beast.  It 
had  seven  heads  and  ten  horns.  Where  were 
these  ten  horns?  It  seems  generally  ad- 
mitted that  they  were  all  on  the  seventh 
head.  The  seventh  head,  which  represents 
the  seventh  kingdom,  or  manifestation  of  the 
world-principle  which  is  described  fin  ch.  17: 
10]  as  not  yet  come,  then,  was  different  in 
appearance  from  the  others.  It  was  ten- 
horned.  It  had  not  the  same  unity  of  ap- 
pearance as  the  others.  Now  the  ten  horns 
are  explained  as  ten  kings,  or  minor  powers 
[17:  12].     The  conclusion,  therefore,  is   that 


the  seventh  head  must  be  rather  an  aggrega- 
tion of  monarchies  than  a  single  universal 
empire.  This  agrees  with  Daniel's  prophecy 
that  out  of  the  fourth  kingdom,  wliich  corre- 
sponds, as  we  have  seen,  with  the  sixth  head 
of  the  wild  beast  here,  ten  kings  should  arise 
(d;iu.  7:  7,23,24)."  By  tlils  aggregation  of  mon- 
archies, the  writer  quoted  seems  to  mean 
the  same  as  Auberlen  means  in  speaking  of 
the  "Germano-Slavonic  Kingdom."  It  is, 
as  we  have  already  said,  that  "aggregation 
of  monarchies"  which  on  the  fall  of  the 
Roman  Emjjire  by  degrees  arose  in  Europe — 
all  ultimately  subject  to  the  Papacy,  and 
filled  with  its  antichristian  spirit.  The 
Speaker's  Cotnmentary  summarizes  its  own 
view  thus:  "The  four  forms  of  worldly 
dominion  which  Daniel  had  symbolized 
separately  are  here  combined  into  one  form, 
representing  the  universal  world-power;  and 
of  that  one  torm  the  empire  of  Pagan  Rome, 
as  the  seer  beheld  it,  supplied  the  outline." 

It  would  be  easy  to  fill  pages  with  the 
theories  of  interpretation  for  this  part  of  our 
work,  furnished  by  different  writers,  ancient 
and  modern.  We  shall  not  confuse  the  reader 
with  them.  That  which  is  given  above,  and 
in  which  the  three  authorities  quoted  mainly 
agree,  is  the  only  one  consistent  with  the  prin- 
ciple of  interpretation  followed  in  our  own 
exposition  throughout  the  book,  and  in 
which  the  symbolical  figures  on  the  Apoc- 
alyptic scene  are  regarded  as  representative 
of  forces,  rather  than  of  individual  person- 
ages, orof  distinct  organisms,  whether  national 
or  other.  Now,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  how- 
ever differing  in  other  respects,  the  great 
powers  named  above  agreed  in  this — that  their 
attitude  toward  that  beneficent  force  in  this 
world  which  we  term  the  kingdom  of  God, 
was  ever  one  of  bitter  hostility.  Whatever 
nation  or  organism  represented  in  any  age 
that  kingdom  was  with  these  hostile  powers 
an  object  of  attack.  So  it  was  with  ancient 
Israel.  So  it  was  with  Christianity  and  the 
Christian  Church  when  these  appeared.  If 
ever  Israel  was  for  the  time  in  alliance  with 
any  one  of  these  powers,  it  was  always  an  al- 
liance unnatural,  pernicious  in  result,  and  dis- 
approved of  God.  When  between  Chris~ 
tianity  and  the  Roman  State  a  like  alliance 
occurred,  this  also  was  unnatural,  unchristian, 
and  in  its  consequences  disastrous.  Between 
the  "light"  of  God's  spiritual  kingdom  and 


186 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIII. 


3  And  I  saw  one  of  his  heads  ■'as  it  were  wounded  to 
death;  and  liis  deadly  wound  was  healed:  and  <^ all  the 
world  wondered  after  the  beast. 


3  power,  and  his  throne,  and  great  authority.  And  / 
naw  one  of  his  heads  as  though  it  had  been  i  smitten 
unto  death;  and  his  dealli-stroke  was  healed:   and 


aver.  12:  14 b  ch.  17: 


the  "darkness"  of  that  world-spirit  which 
ever  dwells  in  and  animates  the  great  world- 
forces;  between  the  "Christ"  of  the  one  and 
the  "Belial"  of  the  other,  there  has  never 
been  any  possibility  of  such  a  "yoking  to- 
gether" as  God  can  approve  or  the  certain 
eftects  will  justify.  Alike  hostile  in  spirit 
and  purpose  was  that  papal  power  which 
came  in  the  place  of  the  pagan  one,  and  which 
was  in  the  dominant  political  forces  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  what  Paganism  had  been  during 
all  the  centuries  of  the  ancient  world.  So 
that  the  ten  horns  of  the  seventh  head,  al- 
though representing  monarchies  nominally 
Christian,  really  belong  to  the  same  general 
grouping  of  world-powers  hostile  to  the  true 
kingdom  and  the  true  people  of  God.  It  is, 
therefore,  this  one  great,  pervading  force,  or 
principle,  embodied  in  so  many  differing  and 
yet  resembling  ways,  which  we  understand 
to  be  before  us  in  tlie  first  beast  of  the  Apoc- 
alypse. Thus  viewed,  this  beast  becomes 
antichrist,  in  his  worldly,  not  spiritual  mani- 
festation. These  world-powers  stood  opposed 
to  the  kingdom  of  God,  not  alone,  perhaps 
not  so  much  upon  religious,  as  upon  political 
grounds.  It  was  in  the  interest  of  their  own 
despotism  thiit  they  made  war  upon  the  truth 
and  the  peojjle  of  God,  because  discerning  in 
these  the  revelation  of  a  principle  hostile  to 
the  world-principle,  in  its  assertion  that  God 
in  Christ  is  ''Kitir/of  kings  and  Lordoi  lords." 
And  this  explains  the  words  quoted  above, 
but  not  commented  upon  at  length:  "Upon 
his  heads  names  of  blasphemy."  Every  one 
of  these  great  w<jrld-powers,  each  represented 
in  the  monarch  who  filled  the  throne,  asserted 
for  itself  the  dominion,  and  often  even  the 
divine  titles,  wliich  belong  to  God  alone.  It 
was  in  this  spirit  that  Nebuchadnezzar  made 
his  impious  boast,  "  Is  not  this  great  Babylon 
that  /  have  built,  for  the  house  of  the  king- 
dom, by  the  might  of  my  power,  and  for  the 
honour  of  my  majesty?"  Then  it  was  that 
the  word  came  to  him:  "The  kingdom  is  de- 
parted from  thee.  And  they  shall  drive  thee 
from  men,  and  thy  dwelling  shall  be  with  the 
beasts  of  the  field  ;  they  shall  make  thee  to 
eat  grass  as  oxen,  and  seven  times  shall  pass 


over  thee,  until  thou  know  that  the  Most  High 
ruleth  in  the  kingdo?n  of  men,  and  giveth  it  to 
whomsoever  he  wills."  The  blasphemy  of 
Nebuchadnezzar,  thus  rebuked  and  punished, 
equally  characterized  all  those  selfish,  bloody, 
and  impious  despots  who  cursed  the  earth 
with  their  tyranny  during  successive  centu- 
ries, and  whose  claim  to  such  supremacy'  as 
they  asserted  was  a  perpetual  defiance  cast  in 
the  face  of  God.  It  reached  its  climax  in 
those  Roman  Emperors  who  even  claimed  to 
be  gods,  and  demanded  that  divine  honors 
should  be  paid  to  them  even  while  living.  In 
all  these  things  we  have  what  is  symbolized 
in  the  "names  of  blasphemy"  on  the  seven 
heads  of  the  beast;  the  seven  heads  alone 
being  here  mentioned  in  that  connection, 
while  in  the  seventeenth  chapter  the  whole 
beast  is  described  as  "full  of  names  of  blas- 
phemy." A  more  full  treatment  of  the  gen- 
eral subject  of  the  symbolism  here,  as  also 
that  of  the  second  beast,  we  ofter  in  the 
Excursus  upon  Antichrist  at  the  end  of  this 
chapter. — And  the  dragon  gave  him  his 
power,  and  his  seat  [thro7ic],  and  great 
authority.  By  this  is  indicated,  as  already 
pointed  out,  that  this  despotism,  especially  in 
its  war  upon  the  people  and  the  truth  of  God, 
is  but  the  representative  and  the  instrument 
of  the  great  enemy  of  both  God  and  man. 
Theantichristian  spirit,  whatever  its  form  and 
manifestation,  is  devilish.  It  is  important  to 
note,  at  this  point,  the  continued  presence 
and  activity  of  the  dragon,  or  Satan.  He 
does  not  now  retire  from  the  scene.  The  earth 
and  human  life  remain  the  theatre  of  his 
activity,  until  the  strong  angel  from  heaven 
binds  him  in  chains  and  makes  the  abyss  his 
prison. 

3.  And  I  saw  one  of  his  heads  as  it 
were  wounded  to  death.  The  words,  "I 
saw,"  are  not  in  the  Greek,  and  should  be 
marked  as  supplied  in  the  translation.  As-" 
suming  the  correctness  of  what  has  been  said, 
above,  in  the  identification  of  the  beast,  with 
its  seven  heads,  the  evident  interpretation  of 
the  words  now  before  us  is,  that  they  i)oint  to 
that  event,  so  signal  in  itself,  and  so  vast  in 
its  consequences,  the  destruction  of  tiie  Ro- 


Ch.  XIII.] 


REVELATION. 


187 


4  And  they  worshipped  the  dragon  which  gave  power 
unto  the  beast:  and  they  worshipped  the  beast,  saying, 
«  Who  J.V  like  unto  the  beast?  who  is  able  to  make  war 
with  him'.' 

5  And  there  was  given  unto  him  'a  mouth  speaking 
great  things  and  blasphemies;  and  power  was  given 
unto  him  to  continue  "^  forty  and  two  months. 


4  the  whole  earth  wondered  after  the  beast ;  and  they 
worshipped  the  dragon,  because  he  gave  his  authority 
unto  the  beast;  and  they  worshipped  the  beast,  say- 
ing. Who  is  like  unto  the  beast?  and  who  is  able  to 

5  war  with  him?  and  there  was  given  to  him  a  mouth 
speaking  great  things  and  blasphemies;  and  there 
was  given  to  him  authority  ito  continue  forty  and 


acb.  18:  18 6  Daii.  7  :  8;  11:25;  II: 


.  .c  cU-  11 :  2  ;  13  :  6. 1  Or,  to  do  bis  works  during.    See  Dan.  11 :  28. 


man  Empire  in  its  pagan  form.  We  should 
note,  however,  the  qualifying  expression,  "as 
it  were."  It  seemed  a  wounding  unto  death. 
— And  his  deadly  wound  was  healed. 
Kome  lived  on,  under  a  new  form  and  new 
names.  Even  the  paganism  of  the  old  empire 
was  renewed  in  the  idolatries  of  the  Roman 
Church.  Its  spirit  essentially  survived  even 
in  the  Christian  Empire  founded  by  Constan- 
tine ;  much  more  in  that  later  one  which, 
originating  with  Charlemagne,  was  during  so 
many  centuries  confederate  with  the  Papacy. 
In  the  Papacy  itself  it  survived,  and  even  as 
a  world-power;  for  the  popes,  to  this  very 
moment,  have  always  made  much  of  their 
temporal  sovereignty,  and  have  been,  so  far 
as  this,  among  the  most  haughty,  most  ex- 
acting, most  domineering  of  temporal  princes. 
The  deadly  wound  was  healed.  The  world- 
old  Antichrist  did  not  die. —And  all  the 
world  wondered  after  the  beast.  Despot- 
ism has  always  been  able  to  command  the 
homage  of  that  worldly  spirit  to  which  in 
so  many  ways  it  makes  appeal.  Men  pay 
obeisance  to  the  very  name  of  king  or  em- 
peror. They  are  captivated  by  the  splendors 
of  royalty.  The  palace,  the  throne,  the  gor- 
geous retinue,  the  very  tinsel  of  the  humblest 
retainer,  dazzles  them.  They  "wonder after" 
a  power  which  after  all  is  "the  beast,"  and 
only  because  the  god  of  this  world  has  blinded 
their  eyes. 

4.  And  they  worshipped  the  dragon 
which  gave  power  unto  the  beast.  "  Be- 
cause he  gave  his  power  unto  the  beast,"  is 
the  better  reading.  It  is  the  worst  feature  of 
despotism,  and  ever  has  been,  that  it  corrupts, 
while  it  oppresses.  The  subjects  of  it,  denied 
the  exercise  of  those  rights  which  imply  the 
higher  attributes  of  manhood,  deteriorate,  in 
the  very  act  of  becoming  subservient.  Too 
often  they  become  "worldly,  sensual,  devil- 
ish," and  in  that  spirit  "  worship  the  dragon." 
— And  they  worshipped  the  beast,  say- 
ing. Who  is  like  unto  the  beast  ?  who  is 
able  to  make  war  Avith  him  ?  A  graphic 
picture  of  the  servility  of  spirit  in  which  the 


world  has  consented  to  the  domination  of  a 
power  whose  right  of  rule  was  neither  "di- 
vine," since  it  came,  not  from  God,  but  from 
the  enemy  of  God ;  nor  by  any  human  choice, 
since  consent  was  never  asked;  nor  is  justified 
by  its  fruits,  since  these  were,  not  the  happi- 
ness and  elevation,  but  the  misery  and  degra- 
dation, of  those  whom  it  both  ruled  and  op- 
pressed; yet  which,  century  after  century, 
continued  to  impose  upon  human  weakness 
and  depravity,  and  by  force  of  mere  iniquity 
maintained  its  supremacy.  There  came  a 
time,  indeed,  when  men  learned  to  under- 
stand at  once  their  own  rights  and  the  nature 
of  that  usurpation  in  which  these  had  so  long 
been  denied  them.  Yet  until  that  time  came 
— and  how  long  it  was  in  coming! — "all  the 
world  wondered  after  the  beast."  None  dared 
withstand  him;  for  they  said,  "Who  is  able 
to  make  war  with  him  ?  " 

5.  And  there  was  given  unto  him  a 
mouth  speaking  great  things  and  blas- 
phemies. This,  evidently,  alludes  to  the 
beast,  in  his  whole  embodiment,  to  Anti- 
christ, here  especially  seen  in  his  worldly 
manifestation,  though  equally,  and  even 
more  true  of  him,  in  his  spiritual  one.  The 
great  things  and  the  blasphemies  are  the  pre- 
tensions of  this  haughty,  usurping,  God- 
defj'ing,  and  man-enslaving  power.  Com- 
pare with  this  Dan.  7:  8,  where  speaking  of 
the  "little  horn"  which  "came  up  among" 
the  ten  horns  described  by  him,  Daniel  says: 
"And  behold,  in  this  horn  were  eyes  like  the 
eyes  of  man,  and  a  mouth  speaking  great 
things."  This  is  the  characteristic,  alwaj's, 
of  the  world-power,  the  beast,  when  filled 
with  the  dragon-spirit. — And  power  was 
given  unto  him  to  continue  forty  and 
two  months.  The  Greek  word  translated 
"continue"  (jrot^trat),  means,  here,  more 
properly,  to  "act,"  or  "do."  Accordingly 
in  the  margin  of  the  revision,  we  find,  "  ^o  do 
his  works."  The  difiference  in  meaning  is 
important.  What  is  spoken  of  is  not  the 
absolute  duration  of  this  world-power  in  its 
whole   embodiment,    from   the  beginning  to 


188 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIII. 


6  And  he  opened  his  mouth  in  blasphemy  against 
God,  to  blaspheme  his  name,  "and  his  tabernacle,  and 
them  that  dwell  in  heaven. 

7  And  it  was  given  unto  him  *to  make  war  with  the 
saints,  and  to  overcome  them:  <^and  power  was  given 
him  over  all  kindreds,  and  tongues,  and  uatious. 


6  two  months.  And  he  opened  his  mouth  for  blas- 
phemies against  (iod,  to  blaspheme  his  name,  and 
his  tabernacle,  ecu  them  that  i  dwell  in  the  heaveu. 

7  2And  it  was  given  unto  him  to  make  war  with  the 
saints,  and  to  overcome  them:  and  there  was  given 
to  him  authority  over  every  tribe  and  people  and 


a  Johu  1:  14;  Col.  2:9 6  Dau.  7  :  21 ;  ch.  11 ;  7  ;  12:  17 c  ch.  11 :  18  ;  17:  15.- 

oiiiit,  And  it  was  given  .  . 


lit  uuthot  iiics 


the  end.  This  might  be  said  to  comprehend 
well  nigh  the  whole  period  of  human  history. 
The  forty  and  two  months  are  the  period 
during  which  this  bestial  power  in  that  espe- 
cial form  in  which  John  sees  it,  with  its  sixth 
Roman  head,  and  its  seventh  head  with  the 
ten  horns — concentrating  and  consummating 
the  sinister  world-power  of  all  former  ages, 
as  well  as  those  of  its  own — should  "act," 
should  be  allowed  to  exercise  the  power  per- 
mitted to  it  in  opposing  and  seeking  to  de- 
stroy. It  is,  again,  the  period  of  the  ordeal, 
so  often  already  brought  before  us  in  this 
book.  Should  any  prefer  the  theory  that 
aims  at  the  definite  indentification  of  this 
period,  we  may  refer  thein  to  the  "  Excursus," 
at  the  close  of  the  last  chapter.  The  view  of 
Lange,  however,  may  be  preferred,  when  he 
says:  "These  periods  are  not  to  be  chrono- 
logically calculated;  still  less  are  they  to  be 
conformed  to  each  other  [for  our  own  part, 
we  find  them  necessarily  "conformed  to  each 
other,"  having  reference,  in  all  these  in- 
stances, to  the  same  season  of  trial  for  the 
church  and  people  of  God];  the  distinction 
is  in  the  choice  of  form.  The  forty-two 
months  constitute  a  changeful  time  of  tribula- 
tion, in  which  the  number  of  rest  and  joy  is 
continually  crossed  by  the  number  of  toil  and 
distress,  (7X6)."  The  word  "given"  must 
not  be  misapprehended.  It  is  "given"  in  the 
sense  of  "permitted,"  "allowed."  It  is  the 
permissive  providence  of  God,  in  its  long- 
suffering  patience,  and  with  a  view  to  infi- 
nitely wise  ends,  giving  rein  and  scope  for  a 
time  to  the  kingdom  of  evil  and  of  darkness. 
G.  And  he  opened  his  month  in  blasphe- 
mies n$;ainst  C>od.  Even  as  a  world-power. 
Antichrist  is  a  hideous  impiety. — To  blas- 
pheme his  name.  Deny  and  dishonor  the 
8Ui)r('macy,  i>iid  the  very  being  and  person 
of  God. — And  his  tabernacle,  and  them 
that  dwell  in  heaven.  The  best  Greek  text 
omits  the  "and"  (xai) ;  so  that  the  literal 
translation  will  be  "his  tabernacle,  those 
dwelling  [or  'taberna(!ling,'  the  word  for 
'tabernacle' — and     'dwell'    being    one    the 


noun,  and  the  other  the  verb,  from  the  same 
root]  in  heaven."  The  revision  reads,  it  will 
be  noticed:  "His  tabernacle,  even  [this  word 
being  supplied]  those  that  dwell  in  heaven." 
The  two  clauses  are  thus  in  ajjposition. 
Alford  understands  by  those  that  tabernacle 
in  heaven,  the  angels  of  God.  Lange  says; 
"Not  only  is  God's  work  of  grace  in  Chris- 
tians who  are  yet  in  this  world  blasphemed, 
as  a  recognized  reality ;  but  the  inhabitants 
of  the  world  beyond  are  themselves,  likewise, 
blasphemed  as  vain  shadows,  or  as  men  who, 
for  a  phantom  hope,  have  sacrificed  their  pre- 
tensions to  this  present  life."  The  comment  in 
EUicott  is:  "The  saints,  to  whom  the  name 
of  the  Lord  is  a  strong  tower,  and  who  have 
a  tabernacle  of  witness  in  this  wilderness 
world,  can  yet  tabernacle  their  spirits  where 
their  treasure  is,  in  the  heaven,  according  to 
that  word,  'our  citizenship  is  even  now  in 
heaven'  (Phii. 3:20)."  Alford' s  view  seems  in- 
admissible; since  the  mention  of  "taber- 
nacle" implies  a  pilgrim  state,  such  as  is  true 
of  Christians  in  this  world,  and  has  once  been 
true  of  the  saved  in  heaven  ;  but  is  not  and 
never  was  true  of  angels.  What  seems  to  be 
meant  by  blaspheming  the  tabernacle  of  God, 
is  casting  contempt  upon  all  those  spiritual 
mercies  of  God,  through  which  his  people  are 
redeemed  and  kept  while  pilgrims  in  this 
present  evil  world;  and  by  blaspheming  them 
in  heaven,  the  despising  and  rtfviling  of  that 
heavenly  hope,  in  the  fruition  of  which  the 
redeemed  of  God  are  made  safe  and  happy 
with  him  forever. 

7.  And  it  was  given  unto  him  to  make 
war  with  the  saints.  "Given"  in  the  sense 
of  "permitted." — And  to  overcome  them. 
Oppression  and  persecution  long  seemed  to 
have  their  own  way  in  this  world,  as  if  the 
antic^hristian  world-power  were  stronger  than 
God  him.self  But  this  was  only  because  it 
pleased  God  to  so  "permit,"  for  a  season. 
In  the  margin  of  the  revision  will  be  seen  the 
words,  "The  Greek  text  in  this  ver.se  is  un- 
certain." Westcott  and  Hort,  accordingly, 
place  in  brackets  the  Greek  for  the  words, 


Ch.  XIII.] 


REVELATION. 


189 


8  And  all  that  dwell  upon  the  earth  shall  worship 
him,  "whose  names  are  not  written  in  the  book  of  lite 
ot  the  Lamb  slain  'from  the  foundation  of  the  world. 

9  <^lf  any  man  have  an  ear,  let  him  hear. 

10  ''He  that  leadeth  into  captivity  shall  go  into  cap- 
tivity; «he  that  killeth  with  the  sword  must  be  killed 
with  the  sword.  /Here  is  the  patience  and  the  faith  of 
the  saints. 


8  tongue  and  nation.  And  all  that  dwell  on  the  earth 
shall  worship  him,  every  (jiw  whose  name  hath  not 
been  i  written  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  in 

9  the  book  of  life  of  the  Lamb  that  hath  been  slain.    It 
10  any  man  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear,     sjf  anyman 

^  is  for  captivity,  into  captivity  he  goeth :  if  any  man 
shall  kill  with  the  sword,  with  the  sword  must  he  be 
killed.  Here  is  the  *  patience  and  the  faith  of  the 
saints. 


a  Ex.  32  :  32 ;  Diin.  I'J 
26:52..    ./cli.   14:   1; 

wvrld 2  The  Gi'n.ek  text  in  ihi^  vei'se  is  somewhul  u 


Phil.  4:3;  ch.3:5:20:  12,  15;  21 :  27....6  eli.  17  :  8....c  ch.  2  :  7....d  Isa.  .33  :  1. ..  .e  Gen.  9  :  6  ;  Afatt. 
1  Or.  written  in  the  book  of  life  of  the   Lamb   that  hath  been  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the 
I'tuiii...  'S  Oi-,Wii.\\tii\\  into  captivity iOv.atedfastne&s. 


"And  it  was  given  him  to  make  war  with  the 
saints  and  to  overcome  them."  There  seems, 
however,  to  he  only  uncertainty  as  to  whether 
these  words  really  belong  to  the  text.  As  the 
reasons  for  omitting  are  not  conclusive,  it  is 
best  perhaps  to  retain  them. — And  power 
[authority]  was  given  him  over  all  kin- 
dreds, and  tongues,  and  nations  [every 
kindred,  and  tongue,  and  nation].  How 
completely,  during  long  centuries,  the  world 
was  trampled  down  by  this  godless  power, 
is  a  well-known  fact  of  history.  So  it  was 
"given,"  "permitted,"  in  that  "mystery  of 
God"  which  human  reason,  quite  in  vain, 
seeks  of  itself  to  fathom  or  explain. 

8.  And  all  that  dwell  upon  the  earth 
shall  worship  him,  whose  names  are  not 
[every  one  whose  name  hath  not  been]  writ- 
ten in  the  book  of  life  of  the  Lamb  slain 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  A 
most  important  exception  is  here  implied. 
Even  during  the  supremacy  of  this  wild 
beast  out  of  the  sea,  this  reign  of  the  godless 
and  God-def^'ing  world-power,  there  were 
some  whose  names  were  written  in  "the  book 
of  life  of  the  Lamb."  This  is  implied  in  the 
statement  that  all  save  these  worshiped  the 
beast.  These  are  the  witnesses,  prophesying 
in  sackcloth;  they  are  named  to  us,  again,  in 
the  symbol  of  the  temple's  inner  court;  they 
are  the  faithful  "remnant"  of  the  "seed" 
of  the  woman.  These  do  not  vrorship  the 
beast.  Here  is  the  one  ray  of  relieving  light 
traversing  those  centuries  of  darkne.ss.  The 
order  of  the  clauses  in  this  verse  is  somewhat 
c.anged,  as  will  be  observed,  in  the  revision. 
The  margin  retains  the  same  order  as  in  the 
common  version ;  the  text,  however,  is  made 
to  read:  "every  one  whose  name  hath  not 
been  written  from  the  foundation  of  the  world 
in  the  book  of  life  of  the  Lamb  that  hath 
been  slain."  If  this  translation  be  preferred, 
it  implies  the  doctrine  of  the  eternal  election 
of  the  redeemed ;  if  that  of  the  common  ver- 


sion be  chosen,  it  presents  to  view  that  eternal 
covenant  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  in  which 
redemption  was  provided.  "From  the  foun- 
dation of  the  world,"  is  the  New  Testament 
mode  of  representing  what  took  place  in  the 
remote  past,  before  time,  as  measured  in  the 
periods  of  this  world,  had  existence.  We 
notice  that  the  order  of  clauses  in  the  re- 
vision, as  given  above,  is  that  preferred  by 
the  American  revisers.  The  English  revisers 
place  the  marginal  reading  in  the  text,  and 
remove  the  rendering  here  given  to  the  mar- 
gin. In  deciding  upon  this  order  (which  also 
is  adopted  by  Hengstenberg,  Dii-^terdieck,  and 
other.s,  while  Carpenter,  in  Ellicott,  and 
Lange  prefer  the  other),  the  American  re- 
visers may  have  had  some  reference  to  ch. 
17  :  8,  where  we  read,  "  whose  names  were  not 
written  in  the  book  of  life  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world,"  and  which  seem  to  be  a  re- 
peating of  what  is  said  here.  The  structure 
of  the  Greek  in  our  present  passage  allows  of 
either  rendering;  the  parallel  passage  at  17:  8 
seems,  however,  to  favor  the  changed  order 
of  the  clauses. 

9.  If  any  man  have  an  ear,  let  him 
hear.  The  solemn  call  to  attention  so  fre- 
quent in  this  book. 

10.  He  that  leadeth  into  captivity  shall 
go  into  captivity;  he  that  killeth  with 
the  sword  must  be  killed  with  the  sword. 
The  change  of  translation,  here,  is  important: 
"If  any  man  is  for  captivity,  into  captivity 
he  goeth;  if  any  man  shall  kill  with  the 
sword,  with  the  sword  must  he  be  killed"  — 
so  the  revision.  Alford  translates:  "If  any 
man  is  for  captivity,  into  captivity  he  goeth; 
if  any  to  be  slain  with  the  sword,  he  should 
be  slain  with  the  sword."  Carpenter's  is,  for 
substance,  the  same.  The  text  followed  by 
these  two  writers  uses  the  Greek  word  for 
"kill"  in  the  passive  voice  and  infinitive 
mood.  The  text  of  Westcott  and  Hort,  which 
the  revisers  follow,  and  also  of  Tischendorf, 


190 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIIL 


11  And  I  beheld  another  beast  "coming  up  out  of  the  I  11  And  I  saw  another  beast  coming  up  out  of  the  earth  ; 
earth ;  and  he  had  two  horns  like  a  lamb,  and  he  spake  and  he  had  two  horns  like  unto  a  lamb,  and  he  spake 
as  a  dragon.  I 


gives  the  indicative  future  of  the  active  voice, 
with  an  alternative  present  indicative  active 
in  the  margin.  This  text  gives  the  latest 
revision,  and  is  probably  safest  to  follow. 
Adopting  the  translation  of  the  revision,  the 
sense  will  be  not  materially  different  from 
that  assigned  to  the  words  in  Ellicott,  where 
they  are  taken  as  "a  caution  to  the  suffering 
saints  .  .  .  that  the  way  of  the  church's  vic- 
tory lay  through  suffering  captivity  and  meet- 
ing the  sword,  and  that  the  temptation  to  take 
the  sword,  or  seize  the  weapons  of  their  foes, 
would  be  fatal  to  their  true  success."  Hence 
the  force  of  the  words  which  follow. — Here 
is  the  patience  [endurance,  steadfastness] 
and  the  faith  of  the  saints.  In  this  way 
shall  their  endurance  unto  the  end,  their  faith 
in  God,  and  their  patient  waiting  for  him  be 
tried. 

11-18.  The  Wild  Beast  Out  of  the 
Earth. 

11.  And  I  beheld  another  beast,  coming 
up  out  of  the  earth.  Alford's  notice  of 
the  resemblances  and  differences  of  the  two 
beasts  in  this  chapter  bring?  out  the  chief 
points  so  clearly  that  we  copy  his  words  here: 
"  (1)  These  two  beasts  are  identical  as  to  genus; 
they  are  both  ravaging  powers  (flipta),  hos- 
tile to  God's  flock  and  fold.  (2)  They  are 
diverse  in  origin.  The  former  comes  up  out 
of  the  sea  ;  that  is,  if  we  go  back  to  the  sym- 
bolism of  Daniel,  is  an  empire,  rising  up  out 
of  confusion  into  order  and  life;  the  latter 
comes  out  of  the  earth,  i.  e.,  we  may  not  un- 
reasonably say,  arises  out  of  human  society 
and  its  progress ;  which  as  interpreted  by  the 
context,  will  import  its  origin  and  gradual 
development  during  the  reign  and  progress 
of  the  secular  empire  denoted  by  the  former 
beast.  (3)  The  second  beast  is,  in  its  zeal  and 
action,  entirely  subsidiary  to  the  first.  It 
wields  its  authority,  works  miracles  in  its 
support,  causes  men  to  make  and  to  worship 
its  image;  nay,  itself  is  lost  in  the  splendor 
and  importance  of  the  other.  (4)  An  impor- 
tant distinction  exi.sts  between  the  two  beasts, 
in  that  the  second  one  has  two  horns  like  a 
lamb.  In  other  words,  this  second  beast  puts 
on  a  mild  and   lamb-like  appearance,  which 


the  other  does  not.  But  it  speaks  as  a  dragon  ; 
its  words,  which  carry  its  real  character,  are 
fierce  and  unrelenting;  while  it  professes  that 
which  is  gentle,  its  behests  are  cruel."  As  in 
our  own  exposition,  he  views  the  first  beast 
as  representing,  "not  the  Roman  Empire 
merely,  but  the  aggregate  of  all  the  empires  of 
this  world  as  opposed  to  Christ  and  his  king- 
dom." The  Roman  Empire,  distinctively,  he 
finds  represented  in  the  sixth  head  of  the 
beast,  which  "was  crushed,  and  to  all  appear- 
ance, exterminated."  The  deadly  wound  so 
made,  however,  was  healed  "in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Christian  Roman  Empire."  It  is 
important  that  we  make  especial  note  of  the 
fact  that  the  first  beast  in  its  entirety,  repre- 
sents, not  any  one  hostile  world-power,  but 
the  "aggregation"  of  such  in  all  ages  up  to 
the  time  when  the  Roman  power  appeared, 
flourished,  reigned,  and  fell,  and  including 
that  power  itself.  In  other  words,  represents 
that  mighty  evil  principle  of  t3'rannous  hos- 
tility which  has  appeared  and  re-appeared 
from  age  to  age,  alwaj's,  however  diverse  in 
form,  identical  in  spirit.  As  will  be  seen 
presently,  this  same  power  again  re-appears 
in  the  wild  beast  out  of  the  earth,  with  re- 
semblances and  differences  which  may  leave 
us  in  no  doubt  as  to  its  own  identification. — 
And  he  had  two  horns,  like  a  Iamb. 
This  first  itiMii  in  the  description  is  specially 
important.  Indeed,  it  marks  the  only  point 
of  real  and  radical  difference  between  this 
beast  and  the  former  one.  The  first  beast 
exhibited  in  its  whole  exterior  the  ferocity 
and  destructiveness  of  its  nature.  This  one 
put  on  a  symbol  of  gentleness  and  mildness  ; 
assumes,  indeed,  in  some  part  of  its  exterior, 
the  semblance  of  that  one  among  animals 
which  is  most  gentle  and  harmless,  and  which 
stands  as  a  ty)ie  of  "  the  meekness  and  gentle- 
ness of  Christ"  himself  It  is  clear,  there- 
fore, that  this  second  embodiment  of  the  anti- 
christian  principle  assumes  to  be  itself  Chris- 
tian ;  its  pretensions  are  to  represent  all  that 
is  most  Christian.— And  he  spake  as  a 
dragon.  His  voice  betrays  him.  It  would 
he  hard  to  imagine  two  wider  opposites  than 
the  lamb-like  pretense  and  the  dragon  reality. 


Ch.  XIIL] 


REVELATION. 


191 


12  And  he  exerciseth  all  the  power  of  the  first  beast 
before  him,  and  causeth  the  earth  and  them  which 
dwell  therein  to  worship  the  first  beast,  "whose  deadly 
wound  was  healed. 

13  And  ''he  doeth  great  wonders,  =so  that  he  maketh 
fire  come  down  from  heaven  on  the  earth  in  the  sight 
of  men, 

14  And ''deceiveth  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  'by 
the  means  of  those  miracles  which  he  had  power  to  do 
in  the  sight  of  the  beast;  saying  to  them  that  dwell  on 
the  earth,  that  they  should  make  an  image  to  the  beast, 
which  had  the  wound  by  a  swoi'd, /and  did  live. 


12  as  a  dragon.  And  he  exerciseth  all  the  authority  of 
the  first  beast  in  his  sight.  And  he-maketh  the  earth 
and  them  that  dwell   therein  to  worship   the  first 

13  beast,  whose  death-stroke  wa.s  healed.  And  he  doeth 
great  signs,  that  he  should  even  make  fire  to  come 
down  out  of  heaven   upon   the  earth  in  the  sight 

14  of  men.  And  he  deceiveth  them  that  dwell  on  the 
earth  by  reason  of  the  signs  which  it  was  given  hin» 
to  do  iu  the  sight  of  the  beast ;  saying  to  them  that 
dwell  on  the  earth,  that  they  should  make  an  image 
to  the  beast,  who  hath  the  stroke  of  the  sword,  and 


;  ch.  16  :  14. . .  .c  1  Kings  18  :  38  ;  2  Kings  1 :  10,  12. . .  .d  oh.  12 :  19 ;  19 :  20. 
.2:9,  10..../2KingH20:7. 


It  is  the  combination  of  hypocrisy  with  feroc- 
ity, and  each  in  its  utmost  extreme. 

12.  And  he  exerciseth  all  the  power  of 
the  first  beast  before  him.  Though  differ- 
ing in  form  and  in  origin,  the  two  beasts  are 
in  spirit,  purpose,  and  etfect,  identical.  The 
"power"  spoken  of  is  power  in  the  sense  of 
"authority,"  and  the  word  is  so  translated  in 
the  revision.  "Before  him"  means  in  his 
presence,  or  in  his  sight.  The  first  beast, 
evidently,  does  not  pass  from  the  scene,  but 
is  still  present.  The  second  beast  does  not 
succeed  him,  but  reigns  jointly  with  him, 
only  with  even  superior  "authority,"  as  if 
usurping  even  that  "bad  eminence."  Yet  it 
is  usurpation  of  a  peculiar  kind.  _  He  "ex- 
ercises the  authority"  of  the  first  beast  in 
the  interest  of  that  beast.— For  ho  causeth 
the  earth,  and  them  which  dwell  therein 
to  worship  the  first  beast,  whose  deadly 
w^ound  was  healed.  The  idea  given  us, 
then,  of  these  two  beasts  is,  that  though  the 
one  is  a  growth  out  of  the  disorderly  and 
tumultuous  national  life  of  the  world,  while 
the  other  represents  some  new  principle  of 
organization,  in  which  pretension  is  made  to 
what  is  Christian  in  spirit  and  in  fact,  j^et 
they  embody  one  and  the  same  evil  princi- 
ple; while  that  which  is  later  in  origin, 
although  exercising  the  "authority"  of  the 
former  one,  to  some  extent  even  as  usurping 
it,  nevertheless  seeks  the  same  bad  end,  aim- 
ing to  promote  in  the  world  the  same  suprem- 
acy of  evil.  In  other  words,  this  power 
represented  113'  the  second  beast,  while  it 
professes  to  be  Christian,  is  itself  worldly  ; 
and  while  in  pretense  exercising  power  in  the 
interests  of  Christ's  kingdom,  in  truth  seeks 
to  promote,  and  does  promote,  that  same 
antichristian  usurpation  which,  age  after  age, 
oppressed  the  earth,  defied  God,  and  on  all 
its  seven  heads  carried  the  "names  of  blas- 
phemy." 


13.  And  he  doeth  great  wonders.     In  a 

vision  all  the  appearances  seem  to  be  real. 
It  does  not,  therefore,  consi.st  with  the  Apoca- 
lyptic character  of  the  representation  here, 
that  even  any  intimation  should  be  given  of 
the  unreality  of  these  "wonders,"  or  "signs," 
further  than  is  afforded  in  the  next  verse, 
where  it  is  said  that  in  all  the  beast  is  a 
deceiver.  The  word  for  wonders  (ay)^.ela)  is 
one  of  the  words  commonly  used  in  the  New 
Testament  to  denote  real  miracles.  These  in 
the  vision  appear  to  be  real,  and  are  accord- 
ingly spoken  of  in  that  light. — So  that  he 
maketh  fire  come  down  from  heaven  on 
the  earth  [unto  the  earth]  in  the  sight  of 
men.  This  appears  to  be  an  allusion  to  what 
took  place  on  Mount  Carmel,  in  the  times  of 
Ahab  and  Elijah,  when  the  prophetical  mis- 
sion of  the  latter  was  justified,  in  opposition 
to  Baal  and  his  prophets,  bj'  the  fire  that 
came  down  from  heaven  and  consumed  the 
sacrifice  on  the  altar.  In  the  vision,  the 
second  beast  is  seen  performing  a  like  won- 
der, with  a  view  to  establish  his  claim  to  be 
even  more  than  the  messenger  and  represent- 
ative of  God  on  earth — his  vicegerent.  This 
second  beast,  then,  is  a  power  which  makes 
this  claim,  and  in  support  of  it  professes  to 
work  those  miracles  by  which,  in  ages  past, 
the  prophets  and  messengers  of  God  have 
been  recognized  as  sent  of  him. 

14.  And  deceiveth  them  that  dwell  on 
the  earth  by  the  means  of  those  miracles 
which  he  had  power  to  do  in  the  sight 
of  [the  presence  of]  the  beast.  The  text,  as 
corrected  by  best  authorities,  should  be  trans- 
lated: "the  signs  which  it  was  given  [per- 
mitted] him  to  do  "  (to  (r-qixeia.  a  i&66r]  avTijj  ■noirfaai). 

Clearly,  it  is  not  meant  that  these  were  real 
miracles,  however  they  may  have  seemed,  in 

I  the  vision,  to  be  such.  It  may  be  an  open  ques- 
tion whether  some  supernatural  power,  of  an 

'  evil   kind,  may  not  have  been  exercised  by 


192 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIII. 


15  And  he  had  power  to  give  life  unto  the  image  of 
the  beast,  that  ttie  iuiaj^e  of  the  beast  should  both 
speak,  "and  cause  that  as  many  as  would  not  worship 
the  image  of  the  beast  should  be  killed. 

10  And  he  eauseth  all,  both  small  and  great,  rich  and 
poor,  free  and  bond,  'to  receive  a  mark  in  their  right 
Land,  or  in  their  foreheads: 


15  lived.  And  it  was  given  unlo  him  to  give  breath  to 
it,  even  to  the  image  of  the  beast,  Mhat  the  image  of 
the  beast  should  both  speak,  and  cause  that  as  many 
as  should  not  worship  the  image  of  the  beast  should 

16  be  killed.  And  he  eauseth  all,  the  small  and  the 
great,  and  the  rich  and  the  poor,  and  the  free  and 
the  bond,  that  there  be  given  them  a  mark  on  their 


ach.l6:2;  19:20;  20:  4... .6  ch.  14:  9;  19 


20  ;  20  :  4. 1  Some  ancient  nutborities  read,  that  even  the  image  of  the  beast  should 

speak ;  and  he  shall  cause,  etc. 


those  who  in  different  ages  of  the  world,  by  arts 
such  as  these  here  alluded  to,  have  deceived 
"them  that  dwell  on  the  earth."  However  this 
maybe,  that  the  "great  wonders"  here  spoken 
of  were  in  no  sense  such  miracles  as  those  by 
which  Christian  truth  is  sustained,  is  clear. 
And  while,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  end,  the 
identification  of  this  second  wild  beast  is  so 
certain,  we  find  alike  in  the  character  he 
bears,  and  in  the  terms  in  which  the  "signs" 
he  was  permitted  to  do  are  here  spoken  of, 
abundant  testimony  to  the  real  nature  of 
these  lying  wonders. — Saying  to  them  that 
dwell  on  the  earth  that  they  should 
make  an  image  to  the  beast  which  had 
the  wound  by  a  sword  [the  stroke  of  the 
sword]  and  did  live.  This  renewed  mention 
of  the  "deadly  wound"  that  was  "healed," 
seems  to  emphasize  that  incident,  as  being  in 
itself  remarkable,  and  as  characterizing  in  a 
peculiar  way,  the  first  beast,  as  he  appears  in 
the  vision.  The  persistency  of  the  antichris- 
tian  principle,  in  this  world,  in  its  war  upon 
God  and  his  people,  is,  indeed,  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  facts  of  history.  Wounded 
unto  death  in  one  form,  it  never  fails  to  re- 
appear in  another.  When  the  empire  itself 
became  Christian,  and  the  emperor,  in  the 
insignia  of  royalty,  was  seen  presiding  in  a 
Christian  council,  and  lending  the  whole 
strength  of  the  imperial  authority  to  enforce 
its  decrees,  it  must  have  seemed  as  if  Chris- 
tianity had  at  last  triumphed  in  truth.  The 
Christian  imperium  was  itself  antichristian, 
and  lent  itself  to  that  new  form  of  the  same 
godle.ss  principle  which  appeared  in  the  great 
antichristian  apostasy,  in  its  confederacy  with 
the  dragon  to  make  war  upon  the  woman, 
and  upon  "the  remnant  of  her  seed."  Anti- 
christ had  not  died.  For  those  whom  the 
second  beast — the  new  manifestation  of  the 
old  evil  principle — succeeded  in  deceiving, 
were  taught  to  worship,  not  himself,  but  his 
"image."  The  power  which  the  Koman 
Church  claimed  and  exercised  was  not  the 
old     Roman    imperium,    but    its    semblance. 


And  in  reproducing  it,  in  that  sense,  and 
exercising  it  under  the  mask  of  a  so-called 
Christian  hierarchy,  it  reproduced,  also, 
under  similar  Christian  guises,  the  Roman 
Paganism.  Its  masses,  its  festivals,  its  wor- 
ship of  the  virgin,  and  saints,  and  of  images — 
these  are  none  of  them  Christian.  They  are 
the  old  pagan  idolatry  under  new  forms. 
That  which  Romanism  at  one  time  deceived 
all  Europe  into  worshiping  was,  thus,  "the 
image  of  the  beast  which  had  the  stroke  of 
the  sword  and  lived." 

15.  And  he  had  power  [it  teas  given  to 
him]  to  give  life  [spirit,  wveCfiaJ  unto  the 
image  of  the  beast.  Never  was  Antichrist 
more  truly  alive  than  while  the  papal  suprem- 
acy lasted. — That  the  image  of  the  beast 
should  both  speak,  and  cause  that  as 
many  as  would  not  worship  the  image 
of  the  beast  should  be  killed.  That  dra- 
gon voice  which  was  heard  in  the  world 
through  all  former  ages  of  oppression,  of 
cruel  warfare  upon  all  that  maintained  the 
cause  of  truth,  and  righteousness,  and  God, 
was  heard  again  in  this  new  revelation  of 
Antichrist.  And  the  same  deeds  of  murder 
were  re-enacted,  upon  even  a  more  monstrous 
scale.  By  no  pagan  power,  in  its  hostility 
to  the  kingdom  of  God,  were  such  cruelties 
practiced  as  by  antichristian  Christianity, 
itself 

16.  And  he  eauseth  all,  both  small  and 
great,  rich  and  poor,  free  and  bond, 
to  receive  a  mark  in  their  right  hand, 
or  in  their  foreheads.  The  more  exact 
translation  of  the  new  revision  may  be  seen 
above.  The  sense,  however,  is  not  altered  by 
the  change  of  rendering.  What,  then,  was 
this  "  mark  of  the  beast"  ?  In  ancient  times, 
slaves  received  a  brand,  or  mark,  upon  the 
forehead,  hand,  or  some  other  part  of  the 
body,  indicative  of  the  ownership  of  their 
masters.  In  ch.  7 :  3,  we  find  the  servants  of 
God  thus  receiving  a  mark  in  their  foreheads. 
Here  it  is  those  who  are  servants  of  the  beast, 
or  those  worshiping  the  image  of  the  beast— 


Ch.  XIII.] 


REVELATION. 


193 


17  And  that  no  man  might  buy  or  sell,  save  he  that     17  right  hand,   or   upon  their   forehead ;   and  that  no 


had  the  mark,  or  "the  name  of  the  beast,  'or  the  num^ 
ber  of  his  name. 

18  "Here  is  wisdom.  Let  him  that  hath  understand- 
ing count  ■'the  number  of  the  beast:  «for  it  is  tlie  num- 
ber of  a  man ;  and  his  number  in  Six  hundred  three- 
score and  six. 


man  should  be  able  to  buy  or  sell,  save  he  that  hath 
the  mark,  even  the  name  of  the  beast  or  the  number 
18  of  his  name.  Here  is  wisdom.  He  that  halh  under- 
standing, let  him  count  the  uuml)er  of  the  beast; 
for  it  is  the  number  of  a  man :  and  his  number  is 
iSix  hundred  and  sixty  and  six. 


ach.  14:  11....5ch.  15:  2..  ..c  cli.  17 


...d  ch.  15  ;  2 e  ch.  21 :  17. 1  Some  aucieat authorities  read,  Six  hundred  and  sixteen. 


the  servants  and  followers  of  Antichrist.  "  It 
is  utterly  unnecessary,"  says  Carpenter,  most 
truly,  "to  take  this  brand  of  evil  literally, 
any  more  than  we  took  the  seal  of  Christ 
(ch. 7:3)  literally.  That  seal,"  he  adds,  "we 
understand  as  spiritual,  in  the  faith  and  in 
the  character;  this  evil  brand  we  must  inter- 
pret in  like  manner.  It  surely  means  acqui- 
escence in  character  and  action  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  this  tyrannical  world-power;  the 
right  hand  is  the  symbol  of  toil  and  social 
intercourse ;  the  forehead  is  the  symbol  of 
character,  as  time  is  ever  writing  its  awful 
tale  upon  men's  brows." 

17.  And  that  no  man  mi^ht  buy  or  sell, 
save  he  that  had  the  mark  or  the  name 
[even  the  name'\  of  the  beast,  or  the  num- 
ber of  his  name.  Here  occurs  one  of  those 
intimations  which  point  so  surely  to  the  right 
identification  of  the  persecuting  power  sym- 
bolized. One  of  the  means  used,  both  under 
pagan  emperors  and  under  popes,  to  compel 
conformity,  was  that  here  alluded  to — the  in- 
terdiction of  ordinary  intercourse  between 
those  who  refused  thus  to  conform,  either  to 
the  pagan  or  the  papal  beliefs  and  rites,  and 
their  fellow-citizens — extending  even  to  the 
mere  intercourse  of  buying  and  selling.  Al- 
ford  quotes  a  pas.sage  from  Bede,  in  which  this 
is  asserted  of  Diocletian ;  and  also  a  canon 
of  the  third  Lateran  Council,  held  A.  D.  1139, 
to  the  following  etfect:  "iVe  quis  eos — scil. 
hereticos — in  domibus  vel  in  terra  sua  tenere 
vel  fovere  vel  negotiationem  cum  eis  exercere 
presumat :  Let  no  one  presume  to  hold  inter- 
course with  the  heretics,  either  in  houses  or 
in  land,  or  any  species  of  negotiation."  In 
more  modern  times  like  interdicts  have  been 
imposed  in  papal  countries,  and  even  in  Prot- 
estant ones,  where  under  dominant  church- 
and-state  systems  the  old  hierarchical  spirit 
survived.  The  clauses,  "save  he  that  had 
the  mark,  or  the  name  of  the  beast,  or  the 
number  of  his  name,"  are  symbolical  expres- 
sions, pointing  to  the  same  general  idea  as 
wehave  set  forth  in  the  statement  that  those 


who  owned  subjection  to  the  beast  received 
"a  mark,  in  [on]  their  right  hand,  or  in 
[upon]  their  forehead."  It  expresses  the  ab- 
solute subjection  imposed  by  this  evil  power. 
The  stigmata  were  symbols  of  servile  subjec- 
tion. Those  who  bore  them  were  claimed  as 
slaves,  were  held,  bought,  and  sold  as  prop- 
erty;  or,  when  it  was  a  mark  of  military 
enrollment,  it  implied  absolute  control  on  the 
part  of  the  monarch  to  whose  service  they 
were  devoted,  and  his  right  to  compel  such 
service  at  his  own  arbitrary  will.  No  student 
of  history  needs  to  be  told  how  perfectly  in 
this  particular  the  popes  copied  the  absolu- 
tism of  the  pagan  imperium;  the  second  beast 
thus  "exercising  all  the  authoritj'  of  the  first 
beast,"  with  even  a  more  absolute  claim  to 
ownership  in  both  body  and  soul. 

18.  Here  is  wisdom.  Let  him  that  hath 
understanding  count  the  number  of  the 
beast ;  for  it  is  the  number  of  a  man  ; 
and  his  number  is  six  hundred  three  score 
and  six.  It  seems  unnecessary  to  raise  any 
question  as  to  the  reading,  here,  whether  it 
shall  stand  "sixteen  and  six"  {£(c/cai8«ac^),  or, 
"sixty  and  six"  (tf^KOfTa  If).  Some  ancient 
authorities  give  the  former,  but  the  text  as 
settled  bj^  Westcott  and  Hort,  the  latter,  which 
may  be  accepted  as  correct.  There  is  also  a 
further  question  as  to  what  is  implied  in  the 
expressions,  "Here  is  wisdom,"  and,  "Let  him 
that  hath  understanding."  Alford  views  them 
as  a  species  of  challenge,  inviting  students  of 
the  passage  to  exercise  their  "wisdom"  in 
solving  the  mystery  of  the  beast's  number. 
Others  seem  to  think  the  implication  to  be 
that  a  solution  is  really  impossible  to  the 
merely  human  "wisdom,"  or  "understand- 
ing," and  to  be  left  as  one  of  those  mysteries 
which  to  men  are  inexplicable.  Perhaps  the 
word  "challenge"  is  not  quite  appropriate  in 
such  a  case;  and  still,  the  reading  of  this 
"number  of  the  beast"  seems  to  be  proposed 
as  a  thing  possible,  though  difficult ;  while  a 
clue  to  the  difficulties  of  it  appears  to  be  given 
in  the  clause,  "for  it  is  the  number  of  a  man." 


194 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIIT. 


Just  what  this  Imports,  it  may  not  be  easy  to 
determine.  What  is  "the  number  of  a  man?  " 
The  most  likely  answer  is  that  which  is  sug- 
gested in  the  phrase  used  more  than  onee  in 
other  places,  as  in  the  preceding  verse  of  this 
chapter,  and  again  in  verse  second  of  chapter 
fifteen,  "the  number  of  his  name''' — that  is, 
the  number  of  the  name  of  the  beast.  If, 
then,  the  number  of  the  beast  is  the  number 
of  his  name,  "the  number  of  a  man,"  in  the 
clause  under  consideration,  appears  to  mean 
■"the  number  of "  a  man's  "name";  and  this 
may  most  reasonably  be  supposed  to  be  the 
number  resulting  from  adding  together  the 
separate  numbers  represented  by  the  several 
letters  of  the  name,  in  accordance  with  the 
Greek  system  of  enumeration.  It  is  upon 
this  basis,  in  fact,  that  the  various  attempts 
made  to  solve  the  difficulty — and  they  have 
been  very  many — have  mostly  proceeded.  We 
cannot,  of  course,  take  space  for  discussing 
these  numerous  attempts.  A  very  ancient 
solution,  dating  from  the  time  of  Irenseus, 
seems  to  us  the  only  really  probable  one. 
According  to  this  method  of  solution,  the 
name  in  question  is  the  name  Z/«iet«os,  Latin 
(in  its  Greek  form  as  AoTeiras).  The  numerical 
value  of  the  letters  will  amount  to  606  (A  ^=30, 
a  =  l,  T  =  300,  €  =  5,  1  =  10,  v  =  50,  0  =  70,  s  = 
200;  total,  666).  Alford  appears  to  prefer  this 
view.  As  explained  by  Irenaeus,  who  lived 
before  the  papal  manifestation  of  Antichrist 
had  come,  the  word  denoted  in  this  place  the 
pagan  Roman  Empire.  After  alluding  to  this, 
Alford,  si)eaking  of  Papal  Rome  as  now 
equally  to  be  included,  says:  "The  Latin 
Empire,  the  Latin  Church,  Latin  Christianity, 
have  ever  been  its  commonly  current  appella- 
tions; its  language,  civil  and  ecclesiastical, 
has  ever  been  Latin;  its  public  services,  in 
defiance  of  the  most  obvious  requisite  for 
public  worship,  have  ever  been  throughout 
the  world  conducted  in  Latin  ;  there  is  no  one 
word  which  could  so  completely  describe  its 
character,  and  at  the  same  time  unite  the 
ancient  and  modern  attributes  of  the  two 
beasts,  as  this."  It  may  possibly  seem  to 
some  readers  that  if  the  number  is  said  to  be 
"the  number  of  o  man,'''  the  implication 
must  be  the  natnt;  of  some  individual  man,  or 
emperor — which  is  not  true  of  Lateinos.  This, 
however,  does  not  necessarily  follow.  Th.e 
meaning  may  be,  and  probably  is,  that  we 
must  find  the  immber  of  the  beast  from  the 


number  of  his  name,  just  as  we  should  find 
the  number  of  a  man  from  the  number  of  his 
name.  Besides,  it  is  quite  impossible  that  any 
one  man,  either  emperor  or  pope,  should  meet 
the  conditions  of  the  intense  and  comprehen- 
sive characterization  of  the  "beast"  as  here 
described.  Upon  the  whole,  we  prefer  the 
explanation  above  given,  conceding,  however, 
the  liability  to  error  in  a  case  of  this  kind. 
Accepting  it,  the  second  beast  becomes  Anti- 
christ in  his  manifestation  as  a  spiritual  power, 
chiefly  papal  Rome,  as  the  first  beast  was  Anti- 
christ in  his  manifestation  as  a  world-power, 
culminating  in  pagan  Rome. 

EXCURSUS  B.— ANTICHRIST. 

The  topics  needing  a  wider  treatment,  sug- 
gested by  the  foregoing  exposition,  may  be 
most  conveniently  grouped  under  the  one 
general  topic  of  the  chapter.  The  chapter 
itself  is  one  of  those  pivotal  ones,  upon  each 
of  which  some  section  of  the  Apocalyptic 
scheme  appears  to  turn.  To  some  extent,  it 
sums  the  revelations  of  previous  chapters, 
and  in  a  like  measure  anticipates  those  which 
follow.  The  operation  of  evil  forces,  hostile 
to  Christ  and  to  his  kingdom  and  cause,  has 
been  before  us  under  the  seals  and  the  trum- 
pets. Here  the  same  forces  come  upon  the 
scene  in  distinct  personifications,  and  the 
"mystery"  of  that  "iniquity"  which  we 
have  .seen  at  work  is  revealed  in  the  attri- 
butes, symbolizing  all  that  is  most  bloody, 
cruel,  .  and  destructive,  with  which  these 
"wild  beasts"  are  endowed.  It  becomes 
clear,  also,  that  what  might  have  seemed  to 
be  distinct  forces,  though  operating  to  a  like 
evil  end,  are  really  manifestations  of  one 
sinister  power.  The  first  beast  receives  from 
the  dragon  "his  power,  and  his  seat,  and 
great  authority";  while  the  .second  beast 
"  exercises  all  the  authority  of  the  first";  and 
not  only  .so,  but  he  does  this  in  Itis  sight,  in 
his  presence — the  duality  of  the  representation 
becoming  thus,  in  a  measure,  lost  in  the 
unity  of  spirit  and  design.  Agiiin,  the  second 
beast,  though  lamb-like  in  some  part  of  his 
exterior,  speaks  "with  the  voice  of  the 
dragon."  Tliese  three  sinister  appearances, 
therefore,  really  represent  one  and  the  same 
hostile  power.  As  to  its  origin  and  spirit, 
this  power  is  Satanic;  as  to  one  form  of  its 
manifestation,  it  "rises  up"  out  of  political 
tumult  and  disorder,  while  as  to  the  other,  it 


Ch.  XIII.] 


REVELATION. 


195 


is  a  birth  out  of  organized  and  usurping 
systems,  earthly  in  their  nature,  though  mak- 
ing pretensions  far  higher — the  three  repre- 
sent one  mighty  principle  of  evil,  which,  be- 
cause in  history  it  nuikes  war,  as  the  concen- 
tration and  expression  of  all  that  is  worst  in 
it,  upon  Christ  and  his  cause  and  his  people, 
bears  the  appropriate  name.  Antichrist. 

There  is  only  one  place  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment where  this  precise  name  occurs^viz.,  in 
John's  First  Epistle,  2:  18,  'UT:  "Little 
children,  it  is  the  last  hour:  and  as  ye 
heard  that  antichrist  cometh,  even  now  have 
there  arisen  many  antichrists:  whereby  we 
know  that  it  is  the  last  hour.  .  .  .  Who  is 
the  liar  but  he  that  denieth  that  Jesus  is 
the  Christ?  This  is  the  antichrist,  even 
he  that  denieth  the  Father  and  the  Son." 
[Revised  Version.]  This  passage  is  very 
important  as  suggesting  the  correct  view 
of  the  antichristian  principle,  whatever  the 
form  or  the  period  of  its  manifestation.  John 
does  not  mean  to  say  that  every  one  denying 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ  is  himself  Antichrist, 
but  that  in  this  denial  is  the  essence  of  all 
that  is  antichristian,  whensoever  and  howso- 
ever it  shall  appear.  When  this  apostle 
comes  to  represent  this  same  fullness  "of  all 
subtlety  and -all  mischief"  under  Apocalj-ptic 
imagery,  he  gives  us,  as  we  have  seen,  that 
wider  view  which  takes  in  all  history,  and 
which  exhibits  this  power  to  us  as  represented 
in  all  forms  of  oppressive  and  impious  despot- 
ism, and,  as  in  every  age  and  under  all  its 
various  shapes,  one  and  the  same  "enemy  of 
all  righteousness." 

The  peculiar  antichristian  development, 
that  which  was  in  an  especial  sense  Ant\ch7-ist, 
this  apostle,  in  the  passage  just  quoted  from 
his  epistle,  exhibits  to  us  as  having  had  its 
beginning  in  the  very  church  of  Christ  itself 
He  speaks,  in  the  connection  of  the  passage, 
of  those  who  "went  out  from  us,"  because 
they  "were  not  of  us;  for,  if  they  had  been 
of  us,  they  would  have  continued  with  us; 
but  they  went  out  that  they  might  be  made 
manifest  that  they  are  not  of  us."  They  had 
not  "the  anointing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  of 
which  he  speaks  in  the  same  connection. 
They  were  the  worldly  element  in  the 
church — a  fact  which  may,  in  some  measure, 
explain  what  is  said,  that  the  second  beast 
"rises  up  out  of  the  earth,"  an  elemen.t  which 
more  and  more  manifested  itself,  gathering 


strength,  age  by  age,  until  at  last  it  had  be- 
come the  wholly  dominant  one.  This  was,  in 
its  fully  developed  state,  as  a  cruel  and  oppres- 
sive hierarchy,  the  "wild  beast  out  of  the 
earth";  having  its  origin  in  that  earthly, 
selfish,  sensual,  usurping,  and  violent  spirit, 
which,  contrasted  with  what  is  heavenly 
and  truly  Christian,  is,  indeed,  earthly  and 
ffniiichristian.  This  is  Antichrist,  in  his  ex«- 
press  and  peculiar  manifestation.  This  is 
"The   Man   of   Sin." 

It  is  clear,  then,  if  our  exposition  of  the 
chapter  be  correct,  that  we  are  not  to  find  the 
whole  meaning  and  scope  of  this  name  which 
has  played  so  great  a  part  in  modern  religious 
controversy  in  the  Papacy  alone.  Indeed, 
the  passage  quoted  from  John's  First  Epistle, 
itself,  makes  this  evident.  Like  utterances  are 
found  in  the  writings  of  Paul :  as  in  2  Thess. 
2:  7:  "For  the  mj^stery  of  lawlessness  [Re- 
vised Version]  doth  already  work;  only  there 
is  one  that  restraineth  now,  until  he  be  taken 
out  of  the  way."  The  allusion  here  must  be, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  passage  from  John,  to 
those  incipient  tendencies,  beginning  already 
to  appear,  which  threatened  a  development 
so  inauspicious,  and  "whose"  final  "com- 
ing" was,  indeed,  as  the  imagery  in  our 
chapter  so  evidently  sets  forth,  "according  to 
the  working  of  Satan  with  all  power  and 
signs  of  lying  wonders;  and  with  all  deceit 
of  unrighteousness  for  them  that  perish." 
Antichrist  is,  therefore,  rather  a  princijAe,  a 
force — we  might  say  a  tendency,  if  that  word 
were  strong  enough — than  a  power,  or  an 
organism,  and  is  to  be  recognized  elsewhere, 
as  well  as  in  that  great  antichristian  apostasy 
to  which  so  many  have  been  inclined  to  limit 
the  term. 

Carpenter,  the  author  of  the  exposition  of 
the  Apocalypse  in  Ellicott's  Commentary, 
has  some  thoughts  upon  the  subject  here 
noticed,  which  are  so  apposite  and  weighty 
that  we  must  transcribe  what  he  says.  After 
presenting  a  view  in  substance  the  same  as 
that  which  we  offer  above,  he  proceeds:  "Is 
there,  then,  no  personal  Antichrist?  It  has 
been  ably  argued  that  the  Man  of  Sin  must 
be  an  individual.  There  are  certain  expres- 
sions which  seem  to  point  to  a  single  person — 
notably  the  remarkable  use  of  the  masculine- 
gender  when  the  wild  beast  is  referred  to 
(Rot-.  13:5);  but  it  sccms  morc  consonant  with 
the  symbolism  of  the  Apocalypse  to  regardi 


196 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIII. 


the  wild  beast  as  the  figurative  embodiment 

of  the  false,  seductive,  antichristian  spirit 
which  belongs  to  more  ages  than  one,  which 
reveals  itself  in  divers  aspects,  and  yet 
always  manifests  the  same  hostility  to  the 
Divine  Spirit.  It  must  not  be  supposed, 
however,  that  this  view  denies  a  personal 
Antichrist.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  in  perfect 
harmony  with  this  view  to  note  that  the  wild- 
beast  spirit  has  often  culminated  in  an  indi- 
vidual; the  typical  forecasts  of  Antichrist 
have  often  been  individuals.  Antiochus 
Epiphanes,  Herod,  Nero,  might  fairly  be  re- 
garded as  the  incarnation  of  the  ungodly 
spirit.  Similarly,  in  later  ages,  it  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  that  holy,  Christ-taught  men, 
groaning  for  the  sorrows  of  the  world  and  the 
corruptions  of  Cliristianity,  saw  in  many  who 
occupied  the  papal  chair,  the  very  representa- 
tives of  the  false  prophet — The  Antichrist.  .  . 
It  follows  that  the  view  here  maintained  does 
not  exclude  the  possibility  of  a  future  Anti- 
christ, in  whom  the  typical  features  shall  yet 
find  a  clearer  and  fuller  manifestation  than 
in  any  former  age.  We  think  it,  however, 
J7iore  important  to  note  the  principles  which 
may  constitute  the  Antichrist  in  every  age: 
these  being  summarily  seen  in  the  words  of 
John  :  '  He  is  antichrist  that  denieth  both  the 
Father  and  the  Son.'  "We  deem  it  possible 
to  imagine  the  rankest  materialism  allying 
itself  with  a  gorgeous  ritual — to  see  the  high- 
priests  of  science  acquiescing  in  the  most  elab- 
orate of  ecclesiasticisms,  and  the  agnostic  in 
creed  becoming  a  ceremonialist  in  worship,  till 
the  satire  shall  be  only  too  sadly  true,  'I 
found  plenty  of  worshipers,  but  no  God.'  '" 
The  thought  suggested,  here,  is  weighty  and 
momentous.  The  true  Christianity  is  con- 
fronted, in  this  age,  by  two  formidable  ene- 
mies: the  one  a  false  and  usurping  ecclesias- 
ticism,  the  other  an  infidelity  more  bold,  more 
sweeping  in  its  denials,  more  daring  in  its 
blasphemies,  and  at  the  same  time  more 
seductive,  than  any  which  the  world  has 
before  seen.  It  might  seem  as  if  no  two 
forces  were  less  likely  to  enter  into  alliance 
with  each  other  than  a  hierarchical  system 
which  builds  on  the  superstition  of  its  devo- 
tees, and  an  atheistical  system  which  de- 
nounces all  religion  as  superstition,  which  is 
intolerant  towsird  all  religious  ceremonial, 
which  treats  the  church  and  its  ministry  with 
contempt;     and    which,    with    more    reason, 


views  every  priestly  system  as  usurpation  and 
tyranny.  And  still,  mortal  foes  have  more 
than  once  been  found  in  combination,  and 
these  two  may  j'et  combine.  Should  this  ever 
occur.  Antichrist  will  have  a  new  revelation. 
We  may  call  attention,  here,  to  the  fact, 
that  the  second  beast,  in  the  later  pages  of 
this  book,  seems  to  assume  the  name  of  "the 
false  prophet" — or  rather,  this  designation  is 
given  to  him,  in  place  of  that  which  he 
originally  bears.  The  name  occurs,  first,  in 
ch.  16:  13,  where  we  read:  "And  I  saw  three 
unclean  spirits,  like  frogs,  come  out  of  the 
mouth  of  the  dragon,  and  out  of  the  mouth 
of  the  beast,  and  out  of  the  mouth  of  the 
false  prophet."  Where  the  word  "beast" 
alone  occurs,  the  beast  out  of  the  sea  appears 
to  be  meant;  the  second  beast,  or  beast  out  of 
the  earth,  at  the  point  just  noted  (cu.  i6:i3), 
drops  his  original  designation  altogether,  and 
henceforward  is  known  as  "the  false  pro- 
phet." These  "unclean  spirits  as  frogs "  are 
"spirits  of  devils,  working  miracles,  which 
go  forth  unto  the  kings  of  the  earth  and  of 
the  whole  world,  to  gather  them  to  the  battle 
of  that  great  day  of  God  Almighty."  These 
thus  described  are,  therefore,  among  the  later 
manifestations  of  Antichrist,  and  the  language 
used  seems  to  imply  that  antichristian  ecclesi- 
asticism — the  second  beast — undergoes  a  cer- 
tain change.  It  appears,  under  this  later 
form,  less  as  an  oppressive,  domineering  sys- 
tem, and  more  as  a  misleading  and  deceitful 
one,  a  "false  prophet,"  uniting  with  all  its 
other  features  that  of  the  pre-eminent  de- 
ceiver. This  would  seem  to  come  through 
some  such  combination  as  that  mentioned 
above;  or  at  least,  in  a  practical,  if  not  a 
formal  and  intentional,  co-operation  of  cor- 
rupt and  corrupting  ecclesiasticism  with  in- 
fidelity, atheism,  delusion,  and  all  those  agen- 
cies by  which  human  beings  are  so  often 
ruinously  blinded  and  misled.  The  "beast" 
element  and  the  "false  prophet"  element 
may  enter  into  no  actual  alliance;  and  still 
may  be  manifestations  of  one  and  the  same 
bitterly  antichristian  principle,  each  being 
more  or  less  prominent  in  operation  and 
effect,  as  opportunity  may  oft'er  or  allow. 
As  the  last  times  draw  on,  we  may  suppose 
that  such  a  system  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny 
as  once  held  the  world  in  chains  nuiy  grow 
less  and  less  possible,  while  the  function  of 
the  "false  prophet"  gains  scope  in  the  same 


Ch.  XIV.] 


REVELATION. 


197 


CHAPTE 

AND  I  looked,  and,  lo,  "a  Lamb  stood  on  tlie  mount 
Sion,  and  with  him  'a  hundred  forty  ami  four 
thousand,  ■'having  his  Father's  name  written  in  their 
foreheads. 

2  And  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven,  ^as  the  voice  of 
many  waters,  and  as  the  voice  of  a  great  thunder:  and 
1  heard  the  voice  of 'harpers  harping  with  their  harps: 

3  And /they  sung  as  it  were  a  new  song  before  the 
throne,  and  before  the  four  beasts,  and  the  elders:  and 
no  man  could  learn  that  songwbut  the  hundred  arid 
forty  and  four  thousand,  which  were  redeemed  from 
the  earth. 


R    XIV. 

1  And  I  saw,  and  behold,  the  Lamb  standing  on  the 
mount  Zion,  and  with  him  a  hundred  and  forty  and 
four  thousand,  having  his  name,  and  tlie  name  of  his 

2  Father,  written  on  their  foreheads.  And  I  heard  a 
voice  from  heaven,  as  the  voice  of  many  waters,  aud 
as  the  voice  of  a  great  thunder:  and  the  voice  which 
I  heard  wa.s  as  the.  voice  of  harpers  harping  with  their 

3  harps :  and  they  sing  as  it  were  a  new  song  before 
the  throne,  and  before  the  four  living  creatures  and 
the  elders:  and  no  man  could  learn  the  song  save 
the  hundred  and  forty  and  four  thousand,  even  they 


ach.  5-  6 fcch.  7:  4 cch.  7:  3;  13:  16 d  ch.  1:15;  19:  6 e  ch.  5:  8..../ch.  5  :  9  ;  15  :  3 g  vir.  1. 


proportion.     This  latter  designation,  in  such 
a  case,  becomes  the  more  fitting  one. 

In  view  of  all  we  may  well  say  that,  so  long 
as  Christians  see  still  upon  the  field  "enemies 
of  all  righteousness"  so  formidable  as  these, 
whether  singly  or  in  combination,  they  may 
well  presume  that  the  days  of  Antichrist  are 
not  yet  numbered,  nor  the  wars  of  the  mili- 
tant church  yet  at  an  end. 


REDEMPTION   VICTORIOUS. 

1-5.  The  Lamb  on  Mount  Zion. 

1.  And  I  looked,  and  lo,  a  Lamb  stood 
on  the  mount  Sion.  Antichrist  has  now 
been  revealed.  What  will  be  the  issue  of  the 
collision  between  the  forces  of  destruction  so 
personified,  and  the  forces  of  redemption, 
summed  and  expressed  in  Christ  and  his 
'redeeming  work?  Will  he  that  destroys 
triumph,  or  he  that  saves?  This  chapter  is  to 
tell  us.  We  should  read  ''the  Lamb."  It  is 
the  Lamb  before  seen  "in  the  midst  of  the 
throne."  He  is  now  beheld  standing  on 
Mount  Zion.  The  holy  hill,  on  which  stood 
the  fortress  and  the  palace  of  the  king,  must 
here  be  understood  as  used  in  symbol,  as 
Babylon  also  is  below;  the  two  being  in  con- 
trast, both  as  to  their  nature  and  as  to  their 
destiny — Zion,  the  eternal,  safe  citadel,  stand- 
ing forever,  Babylon  doomed  to  fall,  finally, 
irrecoverably.  The  hill  on  which  David 
reigned  thus  appears  as  the  type  of  that  on 
which  "David's  greater  Son"  shall  reign 
eternally — that  is,  the  redeemed  church.  In 
the  changes  of  the  vision,  all  those  features 
of  it  which  are  fixed  and  permanent  remain- 
ing as  before — the  throne,  the  living  creatures 
and  the  elders — a  new  scene  is  presented.  It 
is  assumed  that  Antichrist  is  busy  on  earth  in 
his  work  of  destruction ;  and  now  stands 
revealed  the  power  by  which  he  is  opposed — 
the  Lamb  on  Mount  Zion.— And  with  him 


a  hundred  forty  and  four  thousand.  This 
number  has  been  given  before  (ch.  7:4) — the 
sealed  ones  "of  all  the  tribes  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel."  The  number  is  both  sym- 
bolical and  representative.  It  symbolizes 
fullness,  completeness,  a  round  and  perfect 
number;  it  represents  the  whole  company  of 
the  saved.  Those  who  appear  with  the  Lamb 
on  Mount  Zion  are  thus  representative  fig- 
ures, just  as  the  four-and-twent^^  elders  and 
the  four  living  creatures  are. — Having  his 
[the  Lamb's]  Father's  name  written  in 
their  foreheads.  Those  who  serve  the  beast 
have  his  name  in  their  foreheads.  They  who 
follow  the  Lamb  have  his  Father's  name  so 
written.  In  this  is  symbolized  the  difference 
in  character  and  condition  which  underlies 
all  diflPerences  in  destiny. 

2.  And  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven,  as 
the  voice  of  many  waters,  and  as  the 
voice  of  a  great  thunder.  What  the  voice 
is,  the  clause  following  explains.  The  com- 
parisons used,  "many  waters,"  and  "great 
thunder,"  suggest  the  mingling  of  myriad 
voices,  and  at  the  same  time  their  uni.son  in 
one  vast  diapason  It  is  as  when  the  mighty 
sea  waves  are  dashing  upon  the  shore;  the 
impression,  as  one  listens,  is  partly  that  of  a 
single  sublime  rush  of  sound ;  partly  it  sug- 
gests the  "many  waters'"  which  come  flowing 
in,  billow  upon  billow. — And  I  heard  the 
voice  of  harpers  harping  with  their  harps. 
See,  for  a  more  correct  rendering,  the  Revised 
Version,  above.  By  "heaven  "  in  the  preced- 
ing clause,  is  still  meant  the  whole  Apocalyp- 
tic scene;  only,  it  is  probable  that  these 
heavenly  harpers  are  invisible.  The  sweet, 
mighty  peal  of  melody  comes  as  if  from  a  dis- 
tance, and  reminds  theseerof  infinite  heavenly 
spaces  far  beyond  the  range  of  vision,  and  of 
infinite  multitudes  there  "harping  with  their 
harps." 

3.  And    they   sung  as   it  were  a  new 


198 


KEVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIV. 


4  These  are  they  which  were  not  defiled  with  women ; 
"for  they  are  virgins.  These  are  they^wliich  follow 
the  Lauib  whithersoever  he  goeth.  These  <^were  re- 
deemed from  among  men,  <^beiiKj  the  tirstfruits  unto 
Ciod  and  to  the  Lamb. 


4  that  had  been  purchased  out  of  the  earth.  These 
are  they  who  were  not  defiled  with  women  ;  for  they 
are  virgins.  The.se  are.  they  who  follow  the  Lamb 
whithersoever  he  goeth.  These  were  pureV  ased  from 
among  men,  to  be  the  first  fruits  unto  God  and  unto 


a  2  Cor.  11 :  2....i  ob.  3:  4  ;  7  :  15.  17  ;  17  :  11.... cell.  5:9 d  1  James  1:  18. 


song  before  the  throne,  and  before  the 
four  beasts  [living  creatures],  and  the 
elders.  Wlietlier  visible  on  the  scene,  or 
not,  the  harpers  belong  to  it;  their  song  is  one 
of  adoration  of  him  that  sits  upon  the  throne, 
and  in  sympathy  with  the  encompassing 
elders  and  living  creatures.  Their  song  is 
'"'■  as  it  were  ne-w" — the  ever  new  song  of  re- 
demption, celebrating  that  display  of  grace  in 
God's  redeeming  work,  which  can  never  cease 
to  be  a  wonder  and  a  praise. — And  no  man 
could  learn  that  song  but  the  hundred 
and  forty  and  four  thousand  which  were 
redeemed  from  the  earthl  Some  expt)si- 
tors  (as  Lange,  Lord,  Bengel,  Hengstenberg), 
seem  to  understand  that  the  hundred  and 
forty-four  thousand  are  themselves  the  harp- 
ers. This  appears  to  be  a  mistake.  The  hun- 
dred forty  and  four  thousand  "learn"  the 
song;  implying  that  others  are  singing  it  and 
from  these  they  learn  it — or,  at  least,  they 
"learn''  it  so  that  the  chorus  of  heavenly 
praise  and  the  chorus  of  the  redeemed  blend 
in  harmony.  Lange  says:  "The  voices  are 
ill  part  voices  of  Christian  nations  (the  voice 
of  great  waters),  in  part  the  voice  of  the  great 
prophets  (the  voice  of  a  great  thunder ' ' ).  This 
interpretation  of  the  symbolism  is  too  con- 
jectural, and  cannot  be  depended  upon. 
What  the  picture  given  naturall3'  suggests  is, 
first,  a  chorus  of  heavenly  musiq  harps  and 
voices  uniting,  in  which  the  wonders  of  re- 
demption are  extolled;  those  "angels," 
amongst  whom,  as  our  Lord  has  told  us,  there 
is  such  "joy  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth," 
uniting  in  hymns  of  ecstatic  praise  to  him  by 
whom  redemption  is  wrought.  This  song  the 
redeemed  themselves  "learn."  And  only 
they  can  learn  it.  Alford  .says,  mosttrulj': 
"The  sweetest  and  most  skillful  harmonies 
convey  no  pleasure  to,  nor  are  they  appreciated 
by,  an  uneducated  ear;  whereas  the  expe- 
rienced musician  finds  in  every  chord  the 
most  exquisite  enjoyment.  .  .  .  Even  so  this 
heavenly  song  speaks  only  to  the  virgin  heart, 
and  can  be  learnt  only  by  those  who  accom- 
pany the  Lamb  whithersoever  he  goeth." 
The  expression,  "redt!(!med  \purchased]  out 
of  the  earth,"  reminds  us  of  the  parallel  pas-  I 


sage,  ch.  5:9:  "  For  thou  wast  slain,  and  hast 
redeemed  us  to  God  [hast  bought  us  for  God] 
by  thy  blood,  out  of  every  kindred,  and 
tongue,  and  people,  and  nation."  There  is 
another  Greek  word  (Aurpdw)  for  the  specific 
idea  to  "redeem,"  or  "ransom";  the  word 
here  used  {iyopaim),  denoting  to  purchase,  as 
above,  in  ch.  13:  17.  If  we  compare  the  words 
in  our  present  text  with  ch.  5:9,  we  shall  the 
better  see  the  true  scope  of  the  number  given 
for  those  who  learn  the  new  song — the  hun- 
dred forty  and  four  thousand.  Here  it  is  a 
specific  number;  there  the  implication  is  of  a 
multitude  altogether  countless.  We  must  in- 
fer that  here  as  there,  the  "purchased  out  of 
the  earth"  are  really  innumerable;  and  that 
therefore  the  number  itself  is  symbolical  and 
representative.  Twelve  is  the  number  for 
spiritual  completeness,  applied  to  the  servants 
and  people  of  God,  as  seven  is  of  completeness, 
perfection,  in  the  wider  .sense.  Alford  ex- 
plains this,  in  his  "^Prolego7nena" :  "Twelve 
is  the  number  especially  appropriated  to  the 
church,  and  to  those  appearances  which  are 
symbolically  connected  with  her.  Twice 
twelve  is  the  number  of  the  heavenly  elders ; ' 
twelve  times  twelve  thousand  the  number  of 
the  sealed  elect."  Other  examples  of  the  use 
of  this  number  he  gives  as  follows:  "The 
woman  in  ch.  12:1.  hasacrown  of  twelve  stars; 
the  heavenly  city  has  twelve  gates;  at  the 
gates  twelve  angels,  and  on  them  the  names  of 
the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel ;  also  twelve  foun- 
dations, and  on  them  the  names  of  the  twelve 
apostles;  and  its  circumference  (probably) 
twelve  thousand  stadia.  Finally,  in  the  inid.st 
of  her  [the  city]  the  tree  of  life  brings  forth 
twelve  manner  of  fruits."  The  germ  of  this 
symbolism  seems  to  be  in  the  original  twelve 
tribes,  and  again  in  the  twelve  apostles  chosen 
by  our  Lord.  The  number  found  here,  there- 
fore, "an  hundred  forty  and  four  thousand," 
represents,  not  an  exact  enumeration,  but  the 
whole  vast  company  of  the  redeemed — "a 
number  which  no  man  can  number,"  and  for 
this  reason,  probably,  represented  thus  in 
symbol. 

4.  These  are  they  which  were  not  de- 
filed with  women;  for  they  are  virgins. 


Ch.  XIV.] 


REVELATION. 


199 


5  And  "in  their  mouth  was  found  no  guile:  for 'they 
are  without  laiilt  before  the  throne  of  (_iod. 

G  And  I  saw  another  angel  "fly  in  the  midst  of 
heaven,  •'having  the  everlasting  gospel  to  preach  unto 
them  that  dwell  on  the  earth,  "and  to  every  nation, 
and  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people, 


5  the  Lamb.  And  in  their  mouth  was  found  no  lip: 
they  are  without  bleluish. 

6  And  I  saw  another  angel  flying  in  mid  heaven, 
having  eternal  good  tidings  to  proclaim  unto  them 
that  1  dwell  on  the  earth,  and  unto  every  nation  and 


iPs.  32:2;  Zeph.  3:  13.... 6  Ei.lies.  5 :  27  ;  Jude  24.  ...c  ch.  8:  13.... d  Ephes.  3:  9,  10,  11;  Tims  1:  2. 


The  persistent  tendency  in  some  writers  to 
forsake  the  symbolism  which  pervades  this 
book,  is  seen  in  the  various  interpretations 
given  to  'the  words  just  written.  Komanist 
expositors  will  have  it  that  these  so  named 
are  the  ascetics,  especially  monks.  Augus- 
tine, Bede,  Dtisterdieck,  think  the  reference 
is,  in  general,  to  celibacy;  Hengstenberg,  to 
chastity,  whether  in  the  married  or  single 
life;  De  Wette's  view  is,  in  general,  like 
that  of  Hengstenberg.  Alford's  is  similar. 
Lange's  reference  to  the  Old  Testament  sym- 
bolism, in  this  connection,  where  idolatry  is 
so  often  represented  under  the  idea  of  un- 
chastit}',  is  much  more  to  the  purpose.  With 
this  may  be  associated  that  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, in  which  the  church  appears  as  the 
virgin  Bride  of  the  Lord.  Carpenter's  view, 
in  Ellicott,  therefore,  that  what  is  represented 
under  the  symbolism  of  this  passage  is  purity, 
as  one  characteristic  of  the  redeemed,  seems  a 
just  one;  this  purity,  we  may  add,  as  in  con- 
trast with  what  is  seen  in  them  that  "worship 
the  beast."  It  is  the  ancient  figure  of  a  pure 
and  true  worship  of  God,  with  all  which  that 
imports,  as  contrasted  with  the  impure  idol- 
atries of  those  who  bear  in  their  foreheads 
the  mark  of  the  beast,  implying  every  man- 
ner of  antichristian  "iniquity."  These  are 
they  which  follow  the  Lamb  whitherso- 
ever he  goeth.  Here,  as  Carpenter  says,  is 
a  second  characteristic;  which  is,  implicit 
obedience.  "They  are  those  who  are  with 
Christ,  who  have  tasted  the  cup  that  their 
Lord  tasted,  and  have  taken  up  the  crass 
and  followed  him."— These  were  redeemed 
[purchased]  from  among  men,  being  the 
first  fruits  unto  God  and  to  the  Lamb. 
This  denotes  ''  sepnrntinn,  or  unworldliness ; 
they  were  purchased  from  among  men,  as  a 
first  fruit  to  God,  and  to  the  Lamb."  They 
are  "not  their  own,  for  they  are  bought  with 
a  price."  Their  recognition  of  this,  in  all 
life's  relations,  in  all  service  and  suffering,  in 
all  outward  conduct  and  inward  experience, 
is  one  of  the  things  that  characterize  the 
redeemed. 


5.  And  in  their  mouth  was  found  no 
guile  [no  lie']*  A  literal  rendering  of  the 
Greek  would  be:  "And  in  their  mouth  there 
was  not  found  a  falsehood."  They  are  truth- 
ful— not  hypocrites,  not  deceivers — they  are 
what  they  seem  to  be. — For  they  are  Avith- 
out  fault  before  the  throne  of  God.  The 
corrected  te.xt  omits  the  words:  "before  the 
throne  of  God.''  .The  word  translated  "for" 
{yap),  is  also  omitted  by  "VVestcott  and  Hort, 
though  retained  by  Tischendorf.  The  clauses 
as  so  amended  would  read  simply:  "They  are 
without  fault,"  blameless.  This  cannot  mean 
sinless  perfection,  at  least  in  the  militant 
earthly  state  of  the  redeemed.  It  implies 
two  things — that  the  character  required  of 
such  as  theyMS  found  in  them,  and  that  in  the 
redemption  of  which  they  are  made  the  sub- 
jects, they  are  placed  in  a  condition  of  abso- 
lute acceptance.  They  are  "accepted  in  the 
Beloved." 

6-12.  Angelic  PRorL.\MATroNS. 

6.  And  I  saw  another  angel  fly  [flying] 
in  the  midst  of  heaven.  The  word  "an- 
other," here,  seems  intended  simply  to  dis- 
tinguish this  angel  from  all  that  have  before 
appeared.  In  the  mention,  also,  of  the  second 
and  third  of  these  messenger  angels,  below, 
the  form  of  expression  appears  meant  to  be 
emphatic  of  this  distinction.  Literally  it  is, 
"■Another  angel,  the  second^^ ;  ^'Another  angel, 
the  third.''  The  first  angel  flies  in  mid- 
heaven.  From  the  mid-heaven,  his  field  of 
view  may  be  conceived  as  embracing  the 
whole  inhabited  world.  His  voice,  also, 
sounding  fnmi  the  height  of  heaven,  a  "loud 
voice"  (ver. 7),  rcaches  to  every  part  of  the 
world,  and  is  conceived  as  heard  by  all  human 
creatures.  This  proclaihation,  therefore,  is 
world-wide;  a  fact  very  important  to  a  right 
apprehension  of  what  is  here  intended. — 
Having  the  everlasting  gospel  to  preach. 
The  translation  of  Carpenter,  in  Ellicott,  is: 
"having  an  everlasting  gospel,  to  declare 
glad  tidings."  In  the  Greek,  the  words 
"gospel"  and  "preach" — as  rendered  in  the 
common   version— have   a  closer   relation   to 


200 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIV. 


7  Saying  with  a  loud  voice,  "  Fear  God,  and  give  glory 
to  hiiu;  for  the  hour  of  his  judgment  is  come:  'and 
worship  him  that  made  heaven,  and  earth,  and  the  sea, 
and  the  fountains  of  waters. 


7  tribe  and  tongue  and  people;  and  he  saith  with  a 
great  voice,  tear  (iod,  and  give  him  glory;  for  the 
hour  of  his  judgment  is  eouie:  and  worship  him 
who  made  the  heaven  and  the  earth  and  sea  and 
fountains  of  waters. 


o  ch.  11:  18;  15  :  4 b  Nell.  9:  6;  Ps.  33  .  6;  124:  8;  UB:  5.  6;  Acts  14:  15;  17:  24. 


each  other  than  is  implied  in  the  "glad  tid- 
ings," and  "proclaim"  of  the  revision.    Car- 
penter's rendering  is  the  more  literally  exact 
one.      The    noun    "gospel"    and    the    verb 
"preach"   {'■'■  declare  glad  tidings"),   having 
in  the  Greek  the  same  radical  part,  empha- 
size the  same  leading  idea,  namely,  that  this 
which  the  angel  proclaims  is  "glad  tidings." 
The  leading  thought  in  the  verse,  so  far,  is 
the  preciousness  of  this  gospel.     The  epithet 
"  everlasting,"  "eternal,"  intimates  alike  the 
.eternal,  divine  purpose  upon  which  the  war- 
rant  of  this   announcement  rests,    and  that 
unchangeableness   of  God,    which    makes   it 
sure  that  of  all  which  he  has  spoken  no  one 
word  of  promise  shall  fail.— Unto  them  that 
dwell  oil  the  earth,  and  to  every  nation, 
and  kindred,  and  tongue,   and   people. 
The  preposition  (eVl)  translated  in  this  place, 
as  also  by  the  revisers  "unto,"  is  rendered  by 
Carpenter    "over."     It  is  here   followed   by 
the  accusative   case,   and   signifies   properly 
"extending  over,"  implying  the  extent  of  the 
proclamation.     The  verse,   as  a  whole,   con- 
firms the  view   taken  of  the  significance  of 
the  angel's    flight   in   mid-heaven.      It  is  a 
world-wide  proclamation.     The   two  leading 
thoughts,   therefore,   in  the  verse  are,  (1)  the 
preciousness  of  the  glad  tidings  announced  in 
this  proclamation  of  the  angel;    and  (2)  the 
absolute  universality  of  the  announcement,  so 
fsir  as  this  world   is  concerned.      The  angel 
himself  mu.st  be  viewed  as  a  representative 
figure,  setting  forth  the  idea  of  that  instru- 
mentality in  general,  by  means  of  which  the 
gospel  is  thus   preached   to  the   ends  of  the 
earth.     The  actual  messengers  are  not  angels, 
least  of  all  any  single  angel,  but  men.     This 
angel    "  flying    in    mid-heaven,    having    an 
everlasting  gospel  to  declare  glad  tidings"  in 
all  the  earth,    represents  the  church  and  its 
ministers,  to    whom    this    charge   has   really 
been  committed,  and  by  whom  the  gospel  is 
preached,  "to  every  nation,   and  tribe,   and 
people,  and  tongue."     The  appearance  of  the 
angel,   besides,    in   the   vision,  seems  clearly 
significant  of  .some  period  of  Christian  history 
when  this  world-wide  preaching  of  the  gospel 


should  be  a  fact,  and  not  merely  a  conception 
or  a  hope.     This  period  can  well  be  no  other 
than  that  in  which,  following  upon  a  recovery 
of  Christian  truth  in  its  simplicity,   and    its 
preciousness,  after  many  centuries  of  obscur- 
ing false-teaching,  the  church  in  its  various 
instrumentalities  steadily  advances  to  the  re- 
alization of  that  divine  idea  contained  in  the 
Lord's  own  words:    "The  field  is  the  world." 
7.  Saying,  with  a  loud  voice.    The  loud 
voice  aids  the  conception  of  a  proclamation 
sounding  round  the  world. — Fear  God,  and 
give  glory  to  him.     Such  is  the  tenor  of  this 
proclamation.     How  is  it  "glad  tidings?"    A 
question  which  renews  itself  as  we  note  the 
words  which  follow. — For  the  hour  of  his 
judgment  is  come.    The  two  clauses  seem 
to  be  a  summary  of  the  gospel  message  con- 
sistent with  its  ultimate  meaning  and  purpose. 
The  gospel  is  not  alone  the  announcement  of 
a  method  of  human  salvation.     Redemption 
is  not  salvation  only.     There  are  great  and 
far-reaching  aims  in  both  which  concern  the 
basis  upon  which  universal  well-being  rests, 
and  which,  rightly  understood,  are  above  all 
the  occasion  of  "gladness"  for  those  to  whom 
the  "tidings  "shall  come.     These  aims  also  are 
implied  in  the  tenor  of  the  gospel  message  it- 
self    "  Fear  God  and  give  glory  to  him  "—this, 
indeed,   is   the  gospel.     For  not  only   is  the 
fear  of   God  the   beginning  of  that  wisdom 
which   makes  wise    unto  salvation,    but   the 
gospel    proffer  and    promise  themselves  rest 
upon  an  appeal  first  made  to  men  as  sinners, 
and  calling  them  to  "fear  God."     The  "be- 
ginning of  the    gospel   of  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God,"  was,  "  Repent,  for  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  at  hand."     To  "give  glory"  to 
God  is  to  see  him,  view  him,  trust  him,  yield 
to  him,  as  "  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Chri.st";    honoring   him   in   that  utter 
submission  to  him  which   true  penitence  im- 
plies, and  in  that  faith  which  sees  him  as  the 
gracious  and  the  faithful  One.     Thus  does  the 
proclamation  of  the  angel  of  the  gospel  set 
forth    alike   what   is   mo.st  fundamental   and 
what   is  most    comprehensive   in  the   gospel 
message    itself.     The   further  announcement 


Ch.  XIV.] 


REVELATION. 


201 


8  And  there  followed  another  angel,  saying,  "Baby- 
lon is  lalU'n,  is  lalleii,  ''that  great  eity,  because  she 
made  all  iialious  diink  of  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of 
her  foruicati<in. 

y  And  the  third  angel  followed  them,  saying  with  a 
loud  voice,  "If  any  man  worship  the  beast  and  his 
image,  and  receive  his  mark  in  his  forehead,  or  in  his 
hand, 


8  And  another,  a  second  angel,  followed,  saying, 
Fallen,  fallen  is  Babylon  the  great,  who  hath  uiade 
all  the  nations  to  drink  of  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of 
her  fornication. 

9  And  another  angel,  a  third,  followed  them,  saying 
with  a  great  voice.  If  any  man  worshippeth"  the 
beast  and  his  image,  and  receiveUi  a  mark  on  his 


a  Isii.21 :  9;  Jer.  51:  8;  ch.  18:  2 6  Jer.  51 :  7  ;  oh.  11:  3;  16:  19;  17:  2,  5;  18:  3,  10, 18,  21;  19:  2 c  ch.  13:  14,  15. 


that  the  "hour  of  his  judgment  is  come,"  indi- 
cates that  the  time  has  arrived  in  which  those 
assertions  of  divine  sovereignty,  and  those 
divine  vindications  of  such  as  have  suffered 
and  served,  and  shall  continue  to  do  so,  for 
which  the  church  of  the  redeemed  was  so 
long  as  if  waiting  and  watching,  shall  be  re- 
alized. The  hour  of  God's  judgment,  that 
manifestation  of  himself  as  the  righteous 
Judge  and  Sovereign,  though  a  terror  to  the 
wicked,  brings  "gladness"  to  "the  upright 
in  heart.''  We  are  to  notice,  also,  that  this 
judgment  is  coincident,  in  point  of  time,  wiXh 
the  renewed  and  world-wide  preaching  of  the 
gospel.  What  this  imports  comes  to  view 
more  clearly  as  we  study  what  is  found  below, 
in  chapter  sixteen,  in  connection  with  the 
pouring  out  of  the  seven  vials, — And  wor- 
ship him  that  made  heaven,  and  earth, 
and  the  sea,  and  the  fountains  of  waters. 
That  men  may  thus  worship  God,  the  Author 
and  Framer  of  all  things,  and  that  so  his 
righteous  sovereignty  on  earth  may  be  fully 
established — with  this  in  view,  as  the  ultimate 
end,  is  the  gospel  preached. 

8.  And  there  followed  another  angel, 
saying,  Babylon  is  fallen,  is  fallen,  that 
great  city.  "Another,  a  second  angel," 
is  the  more  full  translation.  The  order  of 
the  subsequent  words,  as  in  the  revision, 
"  Fallen,  fallen  is  Babylon  the  great,"  makes 
the  sense  more  vivid  and  emphatic.  Bf)th 
the  Sinaitic  and  the  Alexandrine  manuscripts 
omit  the  word  "city."  This  reading  West- 
cott  and  Hort,  and  the  revisers,  follow.  Here, 
occurs,  for  the  first  time  in  this  book,  the 
symbolic  name  "Babylon,"  of  which  so  much 
is  made  in  subsequent  chapters.  The  ftill 
significance  of  this  name  we  must  reserve  ff)r 
treatment  in  the  General  Comments,  below. 
Alford's  view  that  Rome  pagan  and  papal, 
principally  papal,  is  intended,  may  be  quoted 
here,  as  what  seems  correct.  The  tenor  of 
this  proclamation  of  the  second  angel  then  is, 
that  the  violent  hostile  power,  against  which 
the  truth  and  the  people  of  God  have  so  long 


had  to  contend,  has  now  at  last  come  to  the 
hour  of  its  overthrow. — Because  she  made 
all  nations  drink  of  the  wine  of  the 
wrath  of  her  fornication.  The  word  "be- 
cause" should  be  omitted.  "  W/to  hath  made," 
etc.,  is  according  to  the  amended  Greek  text. 
Fornication  is  the  Old  Testament  expression 
— so  much  followed  bj'  John  in  this  book — 
for  idolatry':  while  under  the  imagery  of 
this  last  word  is  here  implied  all  those  anti- 
christian  excesses  into  which  the  worshipers 
of  the  beast,  the  citizens  of  "  Babylon,"  were 
drawn.  The  intoxicating  character  of  this 
pernicious  influence,  and  the  fanaticism  which 
made  so  large  an  element  in  all  antichristian 
opposition  and  violence,  are  implied  in  the 
symbol  of  "wine"  here  used.  It  is  deadly 
wine:  "the  wine,"  says  the  note  of  Carpen- 
ter in  Ellicott,  "alike  of  her  sin  and  of  her 
doom,  of  her  fornication  and  the  wrath  that 
shall  overtake  it." 

9.  And  the  third  angel  [another  angel,  a 
third]  followed  them,  saying  with  a  loud 
[great]  voice.  If  any  man  worship  the 
beast  and  his  image.  The  second  angel 
has  proclaimed  the  fall  of  Babylon.  The 
connection  of  the  whole  passage  indicates  that 
a  certain  identity  is  to  be  recognized  between 
Babylon,  as  the  symbol  of  God-opposing 
power,  and  the  wild  beast  described  in  a  pre- 
vious chapter,  and  now  again  mentioned  as 
representative  of  that  same  power,  in  its  chief 
and  comprehensive  manifestation.  Of  this, 
more  in  the  General  Comments  below. — And 
receive  his  mark  in  [a  mark  on]  his  fore- 
head, or  in  [t(pon]  his  hand.  The  indica- 
tion of  character,  here,  should  not  be  re- 
stricted to  actual  and  positive  confederacy 
with  the  beast,  in  avowed  and  open  hostility 
to  God  and  his  cause.  Men  may  join  them- 
selves to  the  enemies  of  God  without  any 
formal  or  declared  intention  of  so  doing.  The 
words  of  Jesus,  "He  that  is  not  with  us  is 
against  us";  "he  that  gathereth  not  with 
me  scattereth,"  suggest  the  principle  by 
which    all    character  and   conduct    must   be 


202 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIV. 


10  The  same  "shall  drink  of  the  wine  of  the  wrath 
of  <iod,  wliich  is  » pourfd  out  without  mixture  into 
"the  cup  ol  his  iuiiiynation;  and  <' he  shall  be  tormented 
with  "tire  and  brimstone  in  the  presence  of  the  holy 
angels,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  Lamb : 


10  forehead,  or  upon  his  hand,  he  also  shall  drink  of 
the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  t>od,  which  is  'prepared 
unmixed  in  the  cup  ol  his  anger:  and  he  sliall  be 
tormented  with  tire  and  brimstone  in  tlie  presence 
of   the   holy   angels,  and    in    the   presence    of   the 


o  Pa.  75:8;  Isu.  51 :  17;  Jer.  25:  15....6ch.  lS:6....dcU.  IB:  19....e  ch.  20:  10..../cli.  1!»:  20. 1  (iv.  mingled. 


determined.  Sin  itself,  especially  sin  that  is 
persistent,  uurepented  of,  with  the  hardening 
processes  inseparable  from  it,  and  the  in- 
variable tendency  of  bad  to  become  worse 
—sin,  itself,  is  "the  mark  of  the  beast." 
Whether  more  or  less  agcgravated  and  defiant, 
it  allies  us  with  the  enemies  of  God,  and, 
unexpiated  and  unforgiven,  must  make  us 
partakers  of  their  doom. 

10.  The  same  shall  drink  of  the  Avine 
of  the  wrath  of  God.  "i/e  also  [xal  outos] 
shall  drink,"  is  better.  The  expression  "shall 
drink  of  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  God," 
takes  us  back  to  the  similar  one  in  ver.  8: 
"Who  [Babylon]  hath  made  all  pations  to 
drink  of  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  her  forni- 
cation"—  they  shared  in  her  crime,  they 
shall  now  share  in  her  doom.  This  point 
of  resemblance  makes  it  the  more  evident 
that  Babylon,  as  the  enticer,  and  the  first 
wild  beast  fixing  his  mark  upon  those  who, 
of  purpose  or  otherwise,  are  confederate  with 
him  and  serve  under  him,  as  also  the  second 
beast  which  compelled  all  that  dwell  upon 
the  earth  "to  worship  the  first  beast  whose 
deadly  wound  was  healed" — are  in  a  general 
way  to  be  identified. — Which  is  poured  out 
without  mixture  into  the  cup  of  his  in- 
dignation. Some  expositors  appear  to  find 
apparent  opposition  of  ideas  in  this  passage. 
If  the  marginal  reading  in  the  revised  version 
itself  were  adopted,  the  words  would  stand: 
"which  is  mingled  unmixed."  Carpenter,  in 
Ellicott,  translates,  "which  is  mingled  pure," 
taking  the  word  "pure,"  however,  in  the 
sense  of  undiluted.  Alford's  rendering  is 
nearly  the  same,  though  he  explains  the 
word  "pure"  by  the  word  "unmixed."  The 
Greek  word  {Kepavvvtii),  from  which  tbe  parti- 
cipial form  {KeKepatTufvov),  here  employed, 
comes,  is  often  used  in  the  sense  of  "pour," 
while  the  word  (iKparou),  translated  in  the 
comnion  version  "  without  mixture,"  though 
having  the  original  sense  of  pure,  undiluted, 
has  also  the  ac^piired  meaning  of  ".s^row./;." 
A  littoral  translation  of  the  passage,  therefore, 
presenting  its  meaning  in  its  sim))lest  form, 
would  be:   "which  is  jjoured  out  strong,"  i.  e., 


without  dilution.  It  seems  unlikely  that  the 
just  wrath  of  God  should  be  here  compared 
to  any  kind  of  mixed  drinks,  in  which  the 
intoxicating  quality  was  made  more  intense 
by  the  infusion  of  noxious  elements.  The 
meaning  clearly  is,  that  the  wine  of  the 
wrath  of  God  is  poured  out  without  dilution, 
into  the  cup  of  his  indignation ;  and  of  this 
strong  wine  of  his  wrath  the  worshiper  and 
servant  of  the  beast  must  drink. — And  he 
shall  be  tormented  with  fire  and  brim- 
stone in  the  presence  of  the  holy  angels, 
and  in  the  presence  of  the  Lamb.  Some 
difficulty  of  interpretation  is  found  in  the 
words  "in  presence  of,"  etc.  Is  it  to  the  tor- 
ments of  hell  that  reference  is  made?  and  do 
those  who  are  condemned  to  such  torments 
sulfer  thus  "  in  the  presence  of,"  in  the  sight  of, 
"the  holy  angels"  and  the  Eedeemer  him.self? 
Alford  thinks  that  the  words  must  be  literally 
taken,  and  as  indicating  "that  the  torments 
are  visible  to  the  angels  and  the  Lamb."  He 
refers,  as  a  parallel  passage,  to  the  parable  of 
the  rich  man,  in  torment,  and  Lazarus  in 
Abraham's  bosom  (Luke  i6: 2:1).  Lange's  com- 
ment is:  "Can  this  [what  appears  in  our 
present  passage,  not  with  allusion  to  the  para- 
ble] be  said  of  the  torments  of  hell  in  the  strict 
sense  of  the  term?  The  torments  of  hell  re- 
sultant upon  being  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire, 
are  spoken  of  later.  Do  they  not  begin, 
however,  in  this  present  life,  especially  at  the 
end  of  time,  where  time  and  eternity  come 
in  contact  with  each  other?"  Carpenter 
seems  to  take  the  words  as  describing  effects  of 
sin  in  the  present  life.  He  says:  "Sin,  which 
is  first  embraced  as  a  delight,  becomes  soon  an 
inexorable  tyrant,  by  an  awful  retribution 
compelling  men  along  the  routine  of  evil 
habits  which  they  loathe,  while  they  long  foi, 
and  long  for  even  while  they  loathe  them ; 
there  is  a  destiny  of  unrest  in  all  sin.  'The 
wicked  are  like  the  troubled  sea,  which  can- 
not rest.'  It  is  well  that  soletnn  words  like 
these  should  be  read  by  the  light  of  the  most 
certain  of  all  truths — the  power  sin  has  of 
stamping  its  indelible  features  upon  the 
human    character,    and   giving   to   habit   the 


Ch.  XIV.] 


REVELATION. 


203 


11  And  "the  smoke  of  their  torment  ascondeth  up 
for  ever  and  ever:  and  they  have  no  rest  day  nor  night, 
who  worship  the  beast  and  his  image,  and  whosoever 
receiveth  tlie  marlc  of  his  name. 

1:^  'Here  is  the  patience  of  the  saints:  "^here  are 
they  that  keep  the  commandments  of  God,  and  the 
faith  of  Jesus. 


11  Lamb:  and  the  smoke  of  their  torment  goeth  up 
ifor  ever  and  ever;  and  they  liave  no  rest  day  and 
night,  tliey  that  worsliip  tlie  beast  and  liis  image, 

12  and  whoso  receiveth  the  mark  of  his  name.  Here 
is  the  ^patience  of  the  saints,  they  that  keep  the 
commandments  of  God,  and  tlie  faith  of  Jesus. 


I  Isa.  34:  10;  ch.  19  :  3 6  ch.  13:  10 c  ch.  12  :  17. 1  dr.  unto  ages  of  ages 2  Or,  sted/astness. 


force  of  destiny."  De  Wette  tran.slates 
cfiuTTioi',  '''' nach  dem  UrtheUe,"  "according  to 
the  judgment  of" — the  holy  angels  and  the 
Lamb.  Both  Diisterdieck  and  Alford  reject 
this  as  inadmissible.  Perhaps  light  upon  the 
true  interpretation,  here,  may  be  gained  from 
what  we  tind  in  2  Thess.  1 :  6-9:  "And  to  you 
that  are  afflicted  rest  with  us,  at  the  revelation 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  from  heaven  with  the 
angels  of  his  power  in  flaming  Are,-  rendering 
vengeance  to  them  that  know  not  God,  and 
them  that  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord 
Jesus"  (Revised  Version).  If  the  visitation 
upon  worshipers  of  the  beast  pointed  at  in 
the  passage  under  consideration  be  under- 
.stood  as  made  by  "the  Lord  from  heaven 
with  the  angels  of  his  power,"  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  words,  "in  the  presence  of,"  is 
.sufficiently  plain.  Nor  is  it  necessary  to  take 
the  expression,  "tormented  with  fire  and 
brimstone,"  as  having  sole  reference,  perhaps 
not  express  reference,  to  the  punishment  of 
hell.  Both  here  and  in  the  words  which  fol- 
low, there  seems  to  be  allusion  to  the  judg- 
ment that  came  upon  Sodom  and  Gomorrah, 
when  "the  Lord  rained  fire  and  brimstone 
upon"  them.  The  figure  of  the  combination 
of  all  the  forces  of  ungodliness  as  "Babylon," 
makes  the  allusion  still  more  significant; 
while  the  characterization  of  the  ungodly 
themselves  as  those  having  "the  mark  of  the 
beast"  is  in  like  manner  consistent  with  the 
conception  of  such  wickedness  as  that  of 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  visited  with  just  judg- 
ment. The  words  in  question,  therefore,  "tor- 
mented with  fire  and  brimstone  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  holy  angels  and  in  the  presence  of 
the  Lamb,"  may  be  understood  as  indicating 
in  general  the  righteous  judgment  of  God, 
through  those  whom  he  makes  the  instru- 
ments of  such  judgment,  and  as  comprehen- 
sive of  the  judgment  in  its  whole  extent,  and 
its  whole  period,  in  time  and  in  eternity. 
This  punishment,  each  one  found  with  the 
mark  of  the  beast  upon  him,  must  share. 
11.  And    the   smoke    of  their  torment 


ascendeth  up  forever  and  ever.  ''Goeth 
up  unto  the  ages  of  ages.^'  In  the  account 
given  (Gen.  19:  28)  of  the  destruction  of  the  cities 
of  the  plain,  we  read  :  "And  lo!  the  smoke  of 
the  country  went  up  as  the  smoke  of  a  fur- 
nace." Upon  this,  the  symbolism  of  our 
present  passage  is  clearly  founded.  That 
judgment  of  God  in  the  old  time  is  used  to 
represent  and  illustrate  the  visitation  that 
.shall  come  upon  my.«tical  Babylon  and  all 
worshipers -of  the  beast.  Doubtless,  the  idea 
of  hell-torments  is  included;  for  "the  smoke 
of  their  torment  goeth  up  for  ever  and  ever." 
Yet  the  judgment  begins  even  in  this  life; 
national  judgment  sent  upon  the  people  as  a 
whole,  and  those  rulers,  who  have  made 
themselves  servants  and  instruments  of  the 
beast ;  judgment  upon  systems  of  false  doc- 
trine, of  idolatrous  worship,  persecuting  hie- 
rarchies— all  the  various  forms  which  organ- 
ized ungodliness  has  assumed  in  this  world; 
and  punishment,  too,  upon  individual  sinners, 
each  according  to  the  measure  of  his  demerit; 
punishment  felt  in  the  very  nature  of  sin, 
much  more  in  those  consequences  of  sin 
which  endure  forever. — And  they  have  no 
rest,  day  nor  night,  who  worship  the 
beast  and  his  ima^c,  and  whosoever 
receiveth  the  mark  of  his  name.  This  is 
in  the  main  a  recapitulation. 

12.  Here  is  the  patience  of  the  saints  ; 
here  are  they  that  keep  the  command- 
ments of  God,  and  the  faith  of  Jesus. 
The  changes  which  appear  in  the  corrected 
translation  should  be  noticed.  The  marginal 
reading,  "  steadfsistness,"  in  the  revised  ver- 
sion, may  also  be  noticed  with  advantage. 
The  verse  contrasts  the  saints,  their  character, 
and  their  destiny,  with  those  whose  character 
and  prospects  have,  in  previous  verses,  been 
so  vividly  set  forth.  These  "keep  the  com- 
mandments of  God";  they  keep  the  "faith 
of  Jesus."  Their  steadfastness,  "patience," 
is  seen  in  their  ,fidelit}',  and  in  their  waiting 
for  Christ.  The  ajiostasy  and  ungodliness  of 
the  world  around  them  only  bring  into  mor® 


204 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIV. 


13  And  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  saying  unto  me. 
Write,  <■  Blessed  are  the  dead 'which  die  iu  the  Lord 
from  henceforth:  Vea,  saith  the  Spirit,  ■'lliat  they  may 
rest  Irom  their  labours;  and  their  works  do  follow 
them. 


13  And  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  saying,  Write, 
Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  'iu  the"  Lord  from 
lieuceforth :  yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest 
from  their  labours:  for  their  works  follow  with  them. 


oEccles.  4:  1,  2;  ch.  20:6. 


.b  I  Cor.  15:  18;  1  Tliess.  4:  16...  .c  2  Tliess.  1  :  7:  Heb.  4  ;  9,  10;  ch.6:  11.- 
hence/ortU,  yea,  saith  the  Spirit. 


-1  Or,  in  the  Lord.  From 


vivid  contrast  their  piety  and  their  constancy, 
while  tlie  avvfulness  of  the  doom  visited  on 
the  enemies  of  God,  makes  all  the  more 
resplendent  the  glory  and  felicity  of  his 
redeemed. 

13.  The  Voice  from  Heaven.  And  I 
heard  a  voice  from  heaven  saying  unto 
me.  The  voices  in  the  several  visions  ju.st 
described  have  been  connected  with  angel 
forms,  coming  forth  upon  the  Apocalyptic 
scene.  A  voice  is  now  heard,  the  source  of 
which  is  invisible.  This  is  represented  in  the 
words  "from  heaven." — Write,  Bles.sed  are 
the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord  from 
henceforth.  The  connection  of  this  an- 
nouncement with  what  immediately  precedes 
is  quite  clear.  We  have  just  read  of  "the 
patience  of  the  saints ;  them  that  keep  the 
commandments  of  God,  and  the  faith  of 
Jesu.s."  Of  all  such  as  these,  as  they  "  die  in 
the  Lord,"  John  is  commanded  to  write  that 
they  are  "blessed."  The  command  to  write 
this  emphasizes  it,  as  an  announcement  to 
which  particular  attention  should  be  given. 
The  "saints"  who  "keep  the  commandments 
of  God  and  the  faith  of  Jesus,"  are  called  to 
the  exercise  of  "patience,"  of  steadfastness. 
They  have  much  to  endure.  Let  it  be  written, 
how  sure  shall  be  their  recompense  for  all. 
"Whatever  the  nature  of  their  ordeal,  whether 
more  or  less  severe,  in  whatever  age  of  the 
long  period  during  which  the  gospel  shall 
have  this  world-wide  proclamation  and  Baby- 
lon shall  be  visited  with  doom,  whether  in 
stormy  days  of  persecution,  or  those  in  which 
only  the  more  insidious  assaults  of  evil  shall 
call  for  resistance  — through  all,  this  word 
shall  hold  true,  that  they  who  die  in  the 
Lord  are  blessed.  This,  too,  may  aid  in  the 
exposition  of  the  words,  "from  henceforth." 
They  do  not  mean,  of  course,  that  such  as  in 
ages  previous  died  in  the  Lord  are  not  blessed; 
but  they  have  reference  to  that  future  now 
immediately  held  in  view — that  of  which  we 
are  yet  to  read,  where  vials  of  judgment  will 
be  poured  out,  and  great  Babylon  will  (!ome 
to  its  final  fall.  In  the  midst  of  all  this,  dur- 
ing  all    that  troubled   future,   "from   hence- 


forth," they  who  endure,  faithful  unto  death, 
may  be  certain  of  this,  that  dying  in  the 
Lord  they  are  blessed.  It  may  be  well  to 
note  that  the  expression  "from  henceforth" 
(a  translation  of  aTr'  apn),  implies  something  of 
a  pleonasm.  "Henceforth"  means  all  that 
"from  henceforth"  can  mean.  Besides,  the 
Greek  word  (opn)  does  not  of  itself  mean 
"henceforth."  It  is  the  emphatic  word  for 
"now,"  "the  present  moment."  A  literal 
translation  would  theretbre  be,  "from  this 
time,"  "from  this  present  moment." — Yea, 
saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from 
their  labours.  The  burden-bearing,  the  vari- 
ous forms  of  personal  trial,  all  the  suttering 
and  all  the  weariness  of  their  earthly  lot,  are 
implied  in  the  contrast  of  the  word  "rest." 
This  word  means  heaven,  in  all  that  makes  it 
the  perfect  opposite,  the  glorious  and  blessed 
antithesis  of  earth. — And  their  works  do 
follow  them.  The  results  of  what  they  do 
and  suffer  in  God's  cause  and  for  the  name 
of  Jesus,  shall  last  on  into  that  future  of  bles.s- 
edness,  and  there  be  found  in  all  their  rich- 
ness. The.se  shall  be  the  "friends,"  who 
shall  "receive  them  into  everlasting  habita- 
tions." 

general  comments. 

We  have  special  occasion,  in  the  study  of 
the  present  chapter,  to  notice  that  contrast  of 
forces,  tendencies,  and  final  issues  which  so 
pervades  the  visions  of  this  book.  It  is  won- 
derful how  invariablj'  in  ever3'  part  of  the 
book  the  figure  of  the  Redeemer  confronts 
that  of  the  Destroj'er;  how,  in  everj'^  case,  the 
Enemy  is  overthrown  by  the  Defender.  "Vic- 
tory turns,"  always,  "on  Zion's  side."  It 
would  be  hard  to  imagine  anything  more  for- 
midable than  the  hostile  forces  pictured  forth 
in  chapter  thirteen — in  the  dragon,  the  beast 
out  of  the  sea,  and  the  beast  out  of  the  earth. 
In  these  three  the  whole  hostile  power  of  the 
universe  is  seen  in  combination  against  God 
and  his  people.  The  dragon  represents  the 
forces  of  hell ;  the  beast  out  of  the  sea,  world- 
power  in  its  most  fierce  and  deadly  form  and 
spirit ;  and  the  beast  out  of  the  earth,  corrupt 


Ch.  XIV.] 


REVELATION. 


205 


ecclesiasticism,  pei^ecuting  hierarchies,  all 
that  is  most  fell  and  most  destructive  in  spirit- 
ual wickedness  in  high  places.  Against  these 
stands  arrayed,  so  far  as  human  eyes  can  see, 
simply  the  church  of  the  Lord  Jesus;  and 
this,  at  certain  periods,  so  reduced  in  number 
as  to  be  scarcely  found  at  all.  At  one  tim«, 
so  has  the  enemy  prevailed,  that  the  only 
apparent  indication  that  there  remains  in  the 
universe  even  any  protest  against  his  disas- 
trous supremacy  is  the  cry  of  the  souls  under 
the  altar.  At  another  time,  the  dragon  chases 
the  woman  with  the  man-child  into  the  wil- 
derness and  casts  out  after  her  a  destroying 
flood,  following  her  and  her  seed  with  bitter 
persecution  till  only  a  "remnant"  is  left. 
At  another,  the  Lord's  "two  witnesses" — his 
sole  representatives  in  a  godless  and  unbeliev- 
ing world — lie  slain  and  unburied  in  the  streets 
of  the  gr.  at  city,  while  their  enemies  rejoice 
over  them,  sending  gifts  to  one  another,  and 
triumphing  in  the  apparent  silencing  of  the 
last  whisper  of  testimony  for  God,  and  pro- 
test against  their  own  iniquitous  rule.  In 
each  of  these  instances,  and  in  all  similar,  the 
contrasted  picture  is  at  once  seen.  The  slain 
witnesses  soon  rise  from  the  dead  and  ascend 
into  heaven  in  sight  of  their  dismayed  enemies, 
while  a  glorious  form,  robed  in  the  symbols 
of  salvation,  descends  from  heaven  with  "the 
little  book"  of  a  recovered  and  restored  gos- 
pel in  his  hand.  The  woman  in  the  wilder- 
derness  has  a  place  prepared  her  of  God,  and 
"her  son,  a  man-child,''  "caught  up  to  God 
and  to  his  throne,"  is  seen  appointed  to  "rule 
all  the  nations  with  a  rod  of  iron."  The  cry 
of  the  souls  under  the  altar  is  answered  in  the 
proclamation,  coming  in  the  fullness  of  the 
divine  plan,  that  there  shall  be  delay  no 
longer,  but  that  the  mystery  of  God  shall 
hasten  to  its  consummation,  fulfilling  the 
promise  and  prophecy  on  which  the  faith  of 
the  Lord's  suffering  remnant  has  been  sus- 
tained in  all  ages  of  the  ordeal.  So  in  our 
present  chapter,  in  its  relation  to  the  one  pre- 
ceding; while  upon  the  one  hand  the  dragon 
and  the  beasts  are  seen  in  their  work  of  ravage, 
upon  the  other  appears  the  Lamb  on  Mount 
Zion,  and  with  him  the  glorified  company  of 
those  who  have  "gotten  the  victory."  Finally, 
in  the  verses  just  considered,  upon  the  one 
side  is  heard  the  proclamation  of  dire  over- 
throw and  perdition  for  those  who  bear  the 
mark  of  the  beast,  and  upon  the  other,  from 


open  doors  of  heaven  come  words  of  glorious 
promise  and  assurance  for  them  that  keep  the 
commandments  of  God  and  the  faith  of  Jesus. 
"God  has  not  forgotten  the  world,"  nor  in 
any  age  of  time,  however  dark  or  tempest- 
uous, is  victory  for  his  own  cause  or  final 
felicity  for  his  people  one  moment  in  doubt. 

In  this  chapter,  for  the  first  time,  we  en- 
counter that  symbolical  figure  of  which  so 
much  is  made  in  the  visions  of  subsequent 
ones — "  Babylon  the  Great."  It  may  be  noted 
that  she  comes  thus  for  the  first  time  on  the 
scene  at  the  moment  of  her  downfall.  The 
first  mention  of  her  name  is  in  the  proclama- 
tion, "Fallen,  fallen  is  Babylon  the  great!" 
It  has,  we  trust,  sufficiently  appeared  in  our 
exposition  that  the  power  thus  indicated  is  the 
same  which  has  before  been  revealed  as  the 
Beast,  or,  perhaps,  more  properly,  it  com- 
prises under  one  symbol,  what  is  represented 
both  by  the  first  beast  and  by  the  second. 
The  vivid  imagery  of  the  seventeenth  chap- 
ter, where  the  same  symbolical  figure  occu- 
pies the  whole  field  of  view,  and  again  the 
eighteenth  chapter,  where  what  before  had 
been  seen  as  a  woman  re-appears  as  a  city — all 
this  shows  how  by  various  modes  of  represen- 
tation that  evil  force  which  in  all  ages  opposes 
itself  to  the  kingdom  of  God  is  made  to  reveal 
itself,  alike  in  its  nature,  its  purpose,  and  its 
doom.  We  readily  see,  besides,  why  it  is  that 
the  symbols  used  change  as  they  do,  as  if 
some  versatile  actor  were  filling  many  parts 
in  the  same  drama.  The  object  is  in  these 
waj's  to  set  forth  more  fully  in  detail  that 
which  has  already  been  given  succinctly  in 
the  treatment  of  the  original  symbols.  The 
world's  sin,  all  the  variety  of  its  many-sided 
exhibition ;  the  world-sovereignty,  defying 
and  resisting  the  sovereignty  of  God ;  the 
apostate  church,  enticing,  false,  and  cruel; 
the  doom  of  each,  in  so  far  as  it  is  the  enemy 
of  God — these  come  before  us  in  Babylon, 
"that  great  city,"  and  its  final  overthrow, 
with  wonderful  vividness. 

Babj'lon,  from  the  time  when  the  tower  was 
built  whose  height,  it  was  imagined,  might 
defy  any  renewal  of  divine  judgment,  such 
as  the  flood  which  had  depopulated  the  earth, 
all  through  those  ages  in  which  its  power 
grew  and  its  supremacy  was  confirmed,  repre- 
sented in  a  peculiar  way  the  principle  of  hos- 
tility to  God  and  to  his  people.  No  other  city 
and   no  other  name,   in   the  Old   Testament 


206 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIV. 


14  And  I  looked,  and  behold  a  white  cloud,  and  upon 
the  cloud  one  sat  "like  unto  the  Son  of  man, 'having 
on  his  head  a  golden  crown,  and  in  his  hand  a  sharp 
sickle. 


14  And  I  saw,  and  behold,  a  white  cloud;  and  on  the 
cloud  /  saw  one  sitting  like  unto  •  a  son  of  man, 
having  on  his  head  a  golden  crown,  and  in  his  hand 


lEiek.  1  :  26;  ))an.  7:  13;  ch.  1  :  13....&ch.  6:  2. Or,  the  Son. 


period,  was  so  significant  of  this  as  Babylon. 
The  pride  of  dominion,  devotion  to  sensual 
delights,  tlie  spirit  of  oppression  and  cruelty, 
culminated  in  this  great  city  by  the  Euphrates. 
To  God's  people  the  name  was  long  a  name  of 
dread.  When  the  prophet  announced  the 
coming  of  one  who  should  burst  in  her  mighty 
gates  and  humble  her  to  the  ground,  it  was  a 
paean  of  victory  for  the  Lord's  cause.  And 
the  overthrow  of  the  city,  the  suddenness  of 
it,  the  completeness  of  it,  the  utter  desolation 
which  was  ultimately  to  come  upon  the  spot 
where  Babylon  had  stood,  these  give  it  a  place 
alike  in  history  and  in  prophecy  unique  and 
peculiar.  That  city  which  had  once  been 
so  filled  with  song,  and  revel,  and  the  voice 
of  feasting,  and  the  shouts  of  armies  return- 
ing from  victorious  wars;  in  which  once  had 
stood  the  most  amazing  achievements  of 
human  art;  whose  stability  seemed  to  prom- 
ise endurance  while  the  world  should  last, 
adorned  with  splendor  and  shining  with  all 
that  could  most  delight  the  senses  and  foster 
the  vanity  of  the  builder — was  at  last,  during 
long  centuries,  to  be  a  silence  and  a  desola- 
tion. Such  things  have  made  Babylon  in  its 
fall  a  fitting  type  of  that  final  ruin  which 
must  visit,  at  last,  all  the  enemies  of  God. 
As  such  we  find  it  in  the  visions  of  this  book. 

14-20.  The  Harvest  and  the  Vintage. 

14.  And  I  livoked,  and  behold  a  white 
cloud.  We  may  be  reminded,  here,  of  the 
"bright  cloud"  which  overshadowed  the 
group  on  the  mountain  of  the  Transfigura- 
tion (Matt.  17:5),  also  of  the  cloud  which  "re- 
ceived "  Jesus  out  of  the  sight  of  his  disciples 
at  the  Ascension  (-^cwi:  9) ;  and,  as  well,  of 
those  passages  where  it  is  said  of  our  Lord 
that  he  shall  come,  at  his  second  appearing, 
"in  the  clouds  of  heaven"  (Matt.  24:  ,to;  Mark  i3:  26; 
Hcv.  1:  7). — And  upon  the  cloud  one  sat  [one 
sitting]  like  unto  the  Son  of  man.  The 
rendering  of  the  revised  version,  "like  unto 
a  Son  of  man,"  with  "  <Ae  Son  of  man  "  in 
the  margin,  raises  again  the  question  which 
we  had  before  us  in  ch.  1 :  13.  We  may  refer 
to  what  is  said  there,  for  evidence  that  the 
omission  of  the  article  in  the  Greek  is  no  con- 
clusive indication  that  it  should  be  omitted  in 


the  translation.  A  like  omission,  as  there 
pointed  out,  in  places  where  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
mentioned,  shows  that  it  is  quite  consistent 
with  New  Testament  usage,  in  cases  of  this 
kind.  Any  word  which  has  the  force  of  a 
proper  name,  may  stand  without  the  article 
in  Greek,  where  in  English  the  article  is  found. 
But  even  if  the  rendering  of  the  revised  ver- 
sion were  imperative,  as  it  clearly  is  not,  the 
conclusion  would  still  be,  as  it  is  with  the  arti- 
cle supplied,  that  the  being  here  indicated  is 
Christ.  The  other  forms  appearing  in  tiie  con- 
nection of  the  vision  are  angelic.  Here  is  one 
"like  unto  a  son  of  man";  one  not  angelic, 
but  human.  Who  else  could  he  be  but  the  in- 
carnate Lord?  There  is,  however,  as  we  have 
seen,  a  warrant  for  retaining  the  words  of  the 
common  version,  "  like  unto  the  Son  t>f  man"  ; 
in  which  case  the  Lord  Jesus  is  unmisttikably 
pointed  out. — Having  on  his  head  a  golden 
crown.  This  sign  of  kingship  makes  it  the 
more  certain  that  this  can  be  none  other  than 
the  Lord  himself.  The  crown,  besides,  indi- 
cates that  some  advanced  stage  of  the  Dispen- 
sation has  now  been  reached,  where  victories 
have  been  achieved,  while  power  and  king- 
ship and  dominion  are  no  longer  dela^-ed,  but 
held  in  full  possession  and  exercise. — And  in 
his  hand  a  sharp  sickle.  In  our  Lord's 
first  appearance  in  the  course  of  these  visions, 
he  holds  "  in  his  right  hand  seven  stars  (i:  le) ; 
in  his  second  (5:  6,  7),  he  takes  the  sealed  book 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  angel,  and  breaks  its 
seals;  in  the  third  (10:1.2),  he  appears  under 
the  representative  form  of  a  strong  angel, 
clothed  with  a  cloud,  crowned  with  the  bow 
of  the  covenant,  and  liolding  in  his  hand 
"the  little  book";  in  the  fourth  he  is  "the 
Lamb  on  Mount  Zion,  and  with  him  an  hun- 
dred forty  and  four  thousand,  having  his 
Father's  name  written  in  their  foreheads."  In 
our  present  passage,  he  is  crowned  as  a  king, 
but  holds  in  his  hand  the  sickle  of  the  reaper. 
The  symbolism  in  each  of  the  former  cases,  as, 
we  trust,  our  exposition  has  shown,  is  signifi- 
cant. Equally  so  is  it  here.  The  Lord  ap- 
pears, now,  as  a  King,  coming  forward  in 
emphatic  assertion  of  his  sovereignty,  and  as 
such  bringing  the  great  aims  of  his  kingdom 


Ch.  XIV.] 


REVELATION. 


207 


15  And  another  angel  "came  out  of  the  temple,  cry- 
ing with  a  loud  voice  to  him  that  sat  on  the  cloud, 
'Thrust  iu  thy  sickle,  and  reap:  for  the  time  is  come 
for  thee  to  reap;  for  the  harvest  "of  the  earth  is  ripe. 

1(5  And  he  that  sat  on  the  cloud  thrust  in  his  sickle 
on  the  earth ;  and  the  earth  was  reaped. 

17  And  another  angel  came  out  of  the  temple  which 
is  in  heaven,  he  also  having  a  sharp  sickle. 


15  a  sharp  sickle.  And  another  angel  came  out  from 
the  temple,  crying  with  a  great  voice  to  him  that 
sat  on  the  cloud,  Send  forth  thy  sickle,  and  reap:  for 
the  hour  to  reap  is  come;  for  the   harvest  of  the 

16  earth  is  ^  ripe.  And  he  that  sat  on  the  cloud  cast  his 
sickle  upon  the  earth;  and  the  earth  was  reajied. 

17  And  another  angel  came  out  from  the  temple 
which  is  in  heaven,  he  also  having  a  sharp  sickle. 


o  ch.  16  :  17. . .  .ft  Joel  3  :  13  ;  Matt.  13  :  i 


.  .c  Jer.  51  :  33  ;  ch.  13  :  12. 1  Gr.  become  dry. 


to  their  consummation.  For  such  a  consum- 
mation the  harvest  is,  always,  and  when  the 
reaper  goes  forth  with  his  sickle  and  reaps  and 
gathers  in  the  ripe  grain,  the  promise  of  the 
year  is  fulfilled,  and  its  work  achieved. 

15.  And  another  angel  came  out  of  the 
temple.  Here,  again,  as  in  11:  1,  seq.,  it  is 
the  inner  sanctuary  of  the  temple  {va6s)  that  is 
meant.  From  this  inner  sanctuary,  this  holy 
place,  and  holy  of  holies,  the  angel  comes ; 
as  when  a  messenger,  or  a  minister  comes 
from  the  presence,  the  cabinet  of  a  king,  made 
acquainted  there  with  his  purposes  and  com- 
mands, and  commissioned  now  to  make  them 
known. — Crying  with  a  loud  voice  to  him 
that  sat  on  the  cloud.  Some  have  appeared 
to  think  that  an  angel,  merely,  would  not 
be  represented,  even  in  vision,  as  speaking  in 
tones  of  direction  to  one  himself  divine,  and 
that  therefore  we  must  not  see  in  him  who 
sits  upon  the  cloud  the  Lord  himself.  The 
ditRculty  is  met  by  remembering  that  the 
angel  speaks  simply  as  commissioned,  and  as 
announcing  the  supreme  divine  purpose  and 
will.  The  situation  is,  after  all,  quite  con- 
sistent with  the  representation,  throughout 
the  New  Testament,  of  our  Lord  as  ever 
executing  the  will  of  the  Father.  In  his 
incarnation,  he  takes  the  position  of  one  act- 
ing as  the  instrument  of  a  purpose.  He  can 
say,  "  I  and  my  Father  are  one";  and  j^et,  in 
another  view  of  his  purpose  and  mission,  he 
can  say,  "I  came  not  to  do  mine  own  will, 
but  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me."  In  that 
character  and  attitude  he  is  seen  here.  He  is 
"the  Son  of  man,"  executing  that  divine 
purpose  in  which  he  himself  shares,  but  of 
which  he  is  the  instrument.  The  words  of 
the  angel  remind  us  of  this,  while  at  the  same 
time  they  announce  the  fact  that  the  time  has 
come  for  the  consummation  of  that  great 
divine  purpose  and  plan. — Thrust  in  [ni/j-ipov, 
''send"]  thy  sickle,  and  reap;  for  the 
time  is  come  for  thee  to  reap  :  for  the 
harvest  of  the   earth  is  ripe  [lit.,  become 


dry],  "  There  is  a  time  to  sow  and  a  time  to 
reap."  There  is  a  time,  also,  for  the  ground 
to  be  fallow,  that  it  may  be  the  more  ready 
for  the  sower  and  the  seed.  As  our  Lord 
foreshadowed  in  one  of  his  parables,  the  hi.s- 
tory  of  God's  kingdom  in  this  world  has  had 
very  much  of  this  analogy  with  those  pro- 
cesses through  which  alike  the  seed  and  the 
soil  in  which  it  is  sown  mu.st  pass,  ere  the 
harvest  come.  The  seeming  delays  in  God's 
spiritual  kingdom  are  much  like  tho.se  vicissi- 
tudes of  the  passing  year  in  which  the  hopes 
of  the  husbandman  are  now  encouraged  and 
now  clouded.  There  are  even  analogies  to 
that  which  one  sees  when  large  tracts  of 
countrj'  are  given  over  to  neglect,  and  al- 
lowed to  return  almost  to  their  wilderness 
state.  The  rank  vegetation,  as  it  grows  and 
dies,  fattens  the  soil,  and  makes  it  the  more 
productive  when  the  plough  once  more  rends 
its  bosom  and  the  seed  is  cast  in.  Somewhat 
like  this  are  tho.se  aspects  of  Christian  history 
which  might  otherwise  seem  so  difficult  of 
comprehension.  But  in  God's  husbandry  the 
harvest,  even  "the  harvest  of  the  earth,"  the 
whole  earth,  is  sure  to  come. 

16.  And  he  that  sat  on  the  cloud  thrust 
in  his  sickle  on  the  earth  {^cast  his  sickle 
upon  the  earth],  and  the  earth  Avas  reaped 
[or,  '' hoTvested"].  The  preposition  in  the 
Greek  (ejrl,  with  the  accu.sative),  the  revisers 
correctly  translate  "upon."  Alford  renders, 
"And  he  that  sat  upon  the  cloud  put  his 
sickle  upon  (into,  from  above)  the  earth." 
The  action,  of  course,  is  wholly  sjnnbolical. 
The  sickle  is  "cast"  (e^aAe^)  into  the  ripe  har- 
vest on  the  earth,  and  the  harvesting  follows. 
The  action  described  is  the  casting  of  the 
sickle  into  the  earth,  not  any  act  of  reaping — 
the  reaping  follows,  but  how,  is  not  said. 

17.  And  another  angel  came  out  of  the 
temple  which  is  in  heaven.  Again  it  is 
the  inner  sanctuary  (t-aos).  He  also  having 
a  sharp  sickle.  The  significance  of  this  ap- 
pears in  what  follows. 


208 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIV. 


18  And  another  angel  came  out  from  the  altar,  "  which 
had  power  over  fire;  and  cried  with  a  loud  cry  to  him 
that  had  the  sharp  sickle,  saying,  'Thrust  in  thy  sharp 
sickle,  and  gather  the  clusters  of  the  vine  of  the  earth; 
for  her  grapes  are  fully  ripe. 

19  And  the  angel  thrust  in  his  sickle  into  the  earth, 
ami  gathered  the  vine  of  the  earth,  and  cast  il  into 
i^the  great  winepress  of  the  wrath  of  God. 

21)  And  ''the  winejjress  was  trodden  « without  the  city, 
and  hlood  came  out  of  the  winepress, /even  unto  the 
horse  bridles,  by  the  space  of  a  thousand  (nid  six  hun- 
dred furlongs. 


18  And  another  angel  came  out  from  the  altar,  he  that 
hath  power  over  fire;  and  he  called  with  a  great 
voice  to  him  that  had  the  sharp  sickle,  saying.  Send 
forth  thy  sharp  sickle,  and  gather  the  clusters  of 
the  vine  of  the  earth  ;  for  her  grapes  are  fully  ripe. 

19  And  the  angel  cast  his  sickle  into  the  earth,  and 
gathered  the  *  vintage  of  the  earth,  and  cast  it  into 
the  winepress,  the  great  wineprcix,  of  the  wrath  of 

20  God.  And  the  winepress  was  troddeu  without  the 
city,  and  there  came  out  blood  from  the  winepress, 
even  unto  the  bridles  of  the  horses,  as  far  as  a 
thousand  and  six  hundred  furlongs. 


[ch.  16:  8 b  Joel  3  :  13 c  ch.  19:  15 d  Isa.  63.  3;  Lim.  1 :  15 e  Heb.  13:  12;  ch.  11 :8..../oh.  19:  14. 1  dr.  vine. 


18.  And  another  angel  came  out  from 
the  altar,  which  had  power  over  the  fire. 

The  meaning  is  more  clear  in  the  revised 
version  :  "  He  that  hath  power  over  the  fire.'' 
This  refers  us  back  to  ch.  8:  3-5;  from  which  it 
appears  that  the  altar  spoken  of  is  the  altar 
of  incense.  The  angel  having  "power  [au- 
thority] over  the  fire,"  is  the  angel  who,  as 
there  described,  took  the  censer  and  filled  it 
with  the  fire  of  the  altar,  and  cast  it  into  the 
eartii."  It  was  a  signal  of  judgment,  since 
"voices,  and  thunderings,  and  lightnings,  and 
an  earthquake"  followed.  The  appearance 
of  this  angel  having  authority  over  the  fire, 
in  the  vision  now  considered,  is  in  like  man- 
ner a  signal  of  judgment.  As  he  comes,  also, 
from  the  altar  of  incense,  where  the  "prayers 
of  all  the  saints"  are  oflfered,  we  must  con- 
nect with  what  is  now  about  to  follow  those 
prayers  of  the  saints,  as  is  also  done  in  the 
passage  above  quoted.  We  have  seen  the 
gathering  in  of  the  harvest  of  salvation.  But 
in  this,  as  in  all  the  other  visions,  there  is  a 
reverse  side  to  the  picture.  Besides  the  har- 
vest there  is  the  vintage. — And  cried  with  a 
loud  cry  [ivith  a  great  voicel,  to  him  that 
had  the  sharp  sickle,  saying.  It  is  the 
angel  from  the  temple  who  is  addressed.  He, 
like  the  angel  from  the  temple  mentioned  in 
ver  15,  comes  from  the  immediate  presence 
of  God,  commissioned  to  execute  divine  pur- 
pose. The  angel  at  the  altar  of  incense, 
through  whom  the  prayers  of  the  saints  re- 
ceive their  answers,  as  they  cry  to  heaven  for 
vindication  and  protection,  gives  to  him  the 
signal. — Thrust  in  [''send"  (ne/xxiiov)]  thy 
sharp  sickle,  and  gather  the  clusters  of 
the  vine  of  the  earth;  for  her  grapes 
are  fully  ripe.  Carpenter  says:  "The  vin- 
tage symbolizes  a  harvest  of  judgment;  do 
not  the  words  respecting  Babylon  (the  wine 
of  the  wrath  of  her  fornication,  ver.  8)  come 
to  the  mind,  and  confirm  this?   .    .    .     And  it 


is  not  without  significance  that  the  angel  to 
whom  this  cry  is  addressed  comes  forth  from 
the  temple,  the  sanctuary  of  God's  faithful 
ones,  as  one  who  has  witnessed  their  secret 
sorrows  and  their  suiferings,  and  is  fitted  to 
'recompense  tribulation'  to  the  troublers  of 

Israel   (2Thess.  l:  61." 

19.  And  the  angel  thrust  in  his  sickle 

[cast  his  sickle]  into  [7ipo7i]  the  earth,  and 
gathered  the  vine  of  the  earth,  and  cast 
it  into  the  great  winepress  of  the  wrath 

of  God.  ' '  Gathered  the  vi?itage  of  the  earth ' ' 
is  better.  The  words  "  wine-press  of  the  wrath 
of  God"  place  the  nature  of  the  vintage  be- 
yond doubt.  It  is  not  as  the  harvest.  That 
was  mercy,  gathering  in  the  sheaves  of  salva- 
tion, as  the  precious  grain  is  gathered  and 
garnered;  this  is  justice,  casting  the  reaped 
clusters,  ripe  in  wickedness,  into  "the  wine- 
press of  the  wrath  of  God";  thus  s^^mbolizing, 
not  a  garnering  and  a  preserving,  but  crushing 
and  final  destruction.  The  two  are,  therefore, 
in  vivid  contrast. 

20.  And  the  winepress  was  trodden 
without  the  city.  What  city?  Jerusalem, 
Alford  thinks,  "where  the  scene  has  been 
tacitly  laid,  with  occasional  express  allusions, 
such  as  that  in  our  ver.  1."  Lange  says:  "In 
the  s^MTibolical  apprehension  of  the  passage, 

only  the  City  of  God  can   be   meant 

Nothing,  therefore,  save  the  vital  church  of 
God  of  the  last  time  can  be  understood — in  its 
quality,  incontrovertibly,  of  passing  into  the 
visible  appearance  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem, 
and  the  imperishable  City  of  God."  Heng- 
stenberg  also  thinks  the  church  is  meant,  but 
the  church  in  its  militant  state.  Carpenter's 
note  is:  "The  wine-presses  usually  stood  out- 
side the  city ;  it  is  so  represented  here,  not 
without  an  allusion  to  those  who  fall  under 
the  weight  of  this  judgment  because  they  have 
refused  the  defence  of  the  true  city  and  sanc- 
tuary."    The  mention  in  this  connection  of 


Ch.  XIV.] 


REVELATION. 


209 


Mount  Zion  (ver.  i),  and  of  the  temple  (ver.  15, 17), 
would  seem  to  indicate  some  general  refer- 
ence to  Jerusalem.  We  must  keep  in  mind 
the  symbolism,  however,  and  so  doing,  the 
general  view  suggested  by  Carpenter,  in  El- 
licott,  is  better  than,  especially,  any  such 
overloading  of  the  figures  used,  as  in  the 
paragraph  from  Lange,  just  quoted. — And 
blood  came  out  of  the  winepress,  even 
unto  the  horse  bridles,  by  the  space  of 
a  thousand  and  six  hundred  furlongs. 
The  symbolism,  here,  is  of  the  most  intense 
character,  and  we  must  be  careful  not  to  be 
betrayed  into  any  obscuring  literalism.  Wine 
is  called  in  Gen.  49:  11,  and  Deut.  32:  14,  "the 
blood  of  grapes,"  not,  says  Hengstenberg,  "on 
account  of  its  red  color,  but  because  it  is  pre- 
pared from  the  juice  and  strength  of  grapes." 
The  transition  to  the  symbolism  of  actual 
blood  is  therefore  the  more  easy.  The  men- 
tion of  "the  horse  bridles"  seems  to  intro- 
duce the  idea  of  instruments  used  to  execute 
the  divine  judgments,  while  the  imagery  em- 
ployed simply  sets  forth  the  idea  of  the  fear- 
fulness  of  the  judgments.  We  may  compare 
with  this  passage  ch.  19:  13,  14,  15.  One  ap- 
pears clothed  in  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood;  his 
name,  "The  Word  of  God."  He  is  described 
as  "treading  the  wine-press  of  the  fierceness 
and  wrath  of  Almighty  God."  But  "armies 
which  are  in  heaven"  follow,  "upon  white 
horses,  clothed  in  fine  linen,  white  and  pure." 
These  are  with  him  as  he  treads  the  wine-press 
of  divine  wrath.  In  our  present  passage  the 
same  general  symbolism  appears  to  be  em- 
ployed, although  the  details  vary.  We  quote 
furtlier  from  Hengstenberg:  "Such  is  the 
depth  of  the  sea  of  blood  ;  but  its  breadth 
measures  sixteen  hundred  stadia.  We  are 
here  to  take  for  our  starting-post  the  holy 
city,  before  whose  gates  a  sea  of  blood  (a  sea, 
not  a  river)  begins,  and  completes  a  circle  of 
sixteen  hundred  stadia.  The  number  denotes 
a  judgment  encircling  the  whole  earth.  Four, 
the  signature  of  the  earth,  is  first  multiplied 
by  itself,  aad  then  again  by  one  hundred. 
Quite  similar  is  the  formation  of  the  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-four  thousand  ;  the  fundamen- 
tal number  is  twelve,  first  multiplied  by  itself, 
and  then  by  one  thousand.  Similar,  also,  is 
the  formation  of  the  number  six  hundred  and 
sixty-six.  According  to  several  expositors, 
the  number  here  must  be  the  length  of  Pales- 
tine.    But  this  proceeds  on  the  false  supposi- 


tion that  it  is  a  stream  of  blood  which  is  here 
spoken  of,  instead  of  a  sea  of  blood.  Besides, 
the  length  of  Palestine  cannot  be  made  prop- 
erly to  square  with  such  a  measurement;  so 
that  we  are  thrown  on  mere  conjecture,  to 
which  no  license  is  given  in  the  Apocalypse. 
Finally,  one  does  not  see  what  Palestine  could 
have  to  do  here,  since  throughout  the  Apoc- 
alypse it  has  no  signification  attached  to  it." 

GENERAL   COMMENTS. 

We  are  now  approaching  the  close  of  the 
Dispensation,  or  age.  The  next  chapter 
begins  by  announcing  "the  seven  last 
plagues."  In  them,  we  are  told,  "is  filled 
up,"  completed,  "the  wrath  of  God."  His 
final  visitations  upon  the  sinful  and  liostile 
world,  contemporaneous  with  the  consumma- 
tion of  his  purposes  of  grace  and  redemption,  ' 
are  now  to  be  set  forth  in  Apocalyptic  scenery. 
"  The  statement,"  says  Carpenter,  "  that  these 
are  the  last  plagues,  seems  to  show  that  the  set 
of  visions  now  commencing  carry  us  down  to 
the  end  of  the  age  ;  there  are  no  other  plagues 
after  these ;  they  are  the  last  plagues ;  the 
vials,  like  the  seals  and  trumpets,  run  up  to 
the  final  consummation." 

What  we  find  in  the  closing  verses  of  the 
chapter  just  considered,  must,  therefore,  be 
looked  upon  as  in  some  degree  anticipatory 
of  the  events  to  be  more  particularly  de- 
scribed in  those  immediately  following.  The 
fourteenth  chapter,  indeed,  as  a  whole,  seems 
to  be  a  general  picture  of  the  period  during 
which  the  gospel  should  have  world-wide 
propagation,  down,  even,  to  the  close  of  the 
period  ;  this  gospel  propagation  being  attended 
by  providential  visitations  vindicating  tlie  jus- 
tice and  sovereignty  of  G(jd,  set  at  naught  by 
those  who  reject  the  gospel  and  seek  to  hinder 
its  spread.  The  pivotal  verses  of  the  chapter 
appear  to  be  the  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  ; 
in  the  first  of  which  the  gospel  angel  fiying  in 
the  midst  of  heaven  is  described ;  in  the' 
second  his  proclamation;  while  in  the  third 
another  angel  follows  him,  proclaiming  the 
fall  of  great  Babylon.  Those  standing  with 
the  Lamb  on  Mount  Zion,  with  a  notice  of 
whom  the  chapter  opens,  are  the  great  multi- 
tude gathered  out  of  the  world  by  the  min- 
istry of  that  gospel  of  redemption.  Those 
who  perish  in  the  treading  of  the  wine-press 
of  God's  wrath,  are  they  whom  Babj'lon  has 
made  to  drink  of  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  her 


210 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIV. 


fornication,  and  who  now  partalve  of  her  doom. 
The  chapter  covers  the  whole  period  since  the 
time  when,  at  the  Reformation,  a  true  and 
pure  gospel  began  to  be  proclaimed,  during 
the  ages  of  the  great  missionary  enterprises 
of  the  church,  in  which  the  news  of  redemp- 
tion is  carried  to  all  nations,  down  to  that 
"end"  which  our  Lord  declared  should 
"come"  when  this  world-wide  ministry 
should  have  been  fulfilled. 

We  may  say,  therefore,  that  although  the 
final  consummation,  in  this  ending  of  the 
gospel  period  and  in  the  last  judgment,  is  not 
solely  indicated  in  this  chapter,  it  is  included. 
Events,  too,  are  transpiring,  meanwhile, 
which,  in  some  sense,  foreshadow  it.  God's 
purposes  of  mercy  seem  hastening  to  their 
final  fulfillment.  There  are  no  more  such 
delays  as  in  previous  ages  have  constrained 
the  suifering  saints  to  cry,  "How  long,  O 
Lord?"  Many  hindrances  are  taken  out  of 
the  way;  many  corrupting  and  misleading 
influences  are  held  in  check,  or  their  opera- 
tion overruled;  the  world's  natural  progress 
no  longer  prevents,  but  promotes  the  propa- 
gfttion  of  the  truth,  and  the  time  comes 
when  the  apostolic  declaration  is  literally 
tcue — "all  things  are  yours."  At  the  same 
time,  the  evil  power  so  long  dominant  suffers 
fatal  blows.  Events  occur  which  seem  to 
foreshadow  the  final  doom  of  apostasy  and 
all,  organized  hostility  to  God,  and  to  his 
people,  and  to  his  truth.  Even  at  this  day 
in  which  we  live  there  is  truth  in  the  declara- 
tion:  "Fallen,  fallen  is  Babylon  the  great"  ; 
80  fast  are  the  changes  that  have  come  upon 
wTiat  seemed  once  so  secure  against  all 
change  —  such  weakness  and  decrepitude 
have  seized  upon  that  which  was  once  so 
strong. 

■  If  we  have  been  correct  in  our  interpre- 
tation of  the  symbolism  of  the  tenth  chap- 
ter, particularly  the  "little  book,"  and  the 
ahgel  standing  with  one  foot  on  the  sea,  and 
one  on  the  land,  we  shall  be  justified  in  tra- 
cing a  parallelism  between  what  is  found  there, 
artd  what  is  written  in  the  sixth  verse  of  the 
present  chapter.  If  the  little  book  is  the  re- 
covered gospel,  especially  with  reference  to 
its  central,  saving  truth  ;  and  if  the  angel 
■who  holds  it  and  delivers  it  to  God's  servant 
fwr  communication  to  "many  peoples,  and 
nations,  and  tongues,  and  kings,"  stands  thus 
upon  the  sea  and  the  land,  as  claiming  both 


for  the  field  of  gospel  proclamation — then  the 
general  sense,  there,  is  clearly  the  same  as 
here,  where  the  angel  is  seen  "flying  in  mid- 
heaven,  having  eternal  good  tidings  to  pro- 
claim unto  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth,  and 
unto  every  nation,  and  tribe,  and  tongue,  and 
people."  In  noticing  that  part  of  the  tenth 
chapter,  also,  which  speaks  of  the  seven 
thunders  and  their  voices,  whose  utterances 
the  seer  was  not  permitted  to  "write,"  we 
quoted  the  words  of  Durham,  that  these  voices 
of  the  seven  thunders  may  have  been  proc- 
lamations of  the  same  judgments  as  in  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  chapters  are  de- 
picted in  the  pouring  out  of  the  seven  vials, 
and  the  destruction  of  Babylon.  At  that 
stage  of  the  revelation  it  was  not  fitting  that 
these  things  should  be  declared;  they  are 
therefore  reserved  for  a  later  one.  If  this 
view  may  stand,  the  parallelism  noted  above 
may  be  carried  still  further;  and  just  as  the 
period  whose  opening  was  signalized  by  the 
"little  book"  was  one  of  gospel  proclamation 
throughout  the  world,  accompanied  by  signal 
judgments  of  God  upon  every  form  of  "spir- 
itual wickedness"  and  hostility,  so  in  the 
present  chapter,  it  is  the  same  period,  with 
the  same  two  grand  characterizing  features. 

We  ought  to  note,  before  leaving  the  sub- 
ject of  this  chapter,  the  significance  of  this 
connection  of  mercy  with  judgment  in  those 
dispensations  of  God  which  characterize, 
thus,  "the  last  times."  The  great  designs  of 
his  providence  and  grace  in  this  way  reach 
their  consummation  in  those  two  aspects 
which  belong  to  all  history,  yet  which  have 
not  been  wont,  in  the  long  past,  to  come  forth 
in  such  clear  and  full  manifestation.  Wicked 
men  in  the  world  have  often  demanded, 
"How  doth  God  know?  Can  he  judge 
through  the  dark  cloud  ?  "  And  the  suflfering 
and  waiting  saints  have  often  called  from  the 
altar  of  their  innnolation  for  God  to  appear 
in  vindication  of  himself  and  them,  yet  ap- 
parently without  response.  This  will  not 
always  be.  As  events  approach  their  con- 
summation, they  seem  to  hasten,  as  if  eager  to 
rcac^h  the  goal;  while  "the  mystery  of  God" 
is  "finished"  in  the  open  and  msmifest  execu- 
tion of  perhaps  long-concealed  designs.  Men 
begin  to  see  where  was  "the  hiding  of  his 
power";  see  where  that  power  has  wrought 
in  events  of  the  past  which  may  have  seemed 
of  man  and  the  eartli  only,  and  in  contem- 


Ch.  XV.] 


REVELATION. 


211 


CHAPTER   XV. 


AND  "I  saw  another  sign  in  heaven,  great  and  mar- 
vellous, 'seven  angels  having  the  seven  last  plagues; 
«l'or  in  them  is  tilled  up  the  wrath  of  God. 

2  And  1  saw  as  it  were  ''a  sea  of  glass  « mingled  with 
fire:  and  them  that  had  gotten  the  victory  over  the 
beast /and  over  his  image,  and  over  his  mark,  atul  over 
the  number  of  his  name,  stand  on  the  sea  of  glass, 
•  having  the  harps  of  God. 


1  And  I  saw  another  sign  in  heaven,  great  and 
marvellous,  seven  angels  having  seven  plagues, 
which  are  the  last,  for  in  them  is  linisiied  the  wrath 
of (iod. 

2  And  I  saw  as  it  were  a  glassy  sea  mingled  with 
fire;  and  them  that  come  oft'  victorious  Irom  the 
beast,  and  from  his  image,  and  from  the  number  of 
his  name,  standing  iby  the  glassy  sea,  having  harps 


a  ch.  12  :  1,  3. . .  .6  ch.  16 :  1 ;  21 :  9. . .  .c  ch.  14 :  10. . .  .d  ch.  4  :  6  ;  21 :  18. . 

1  Or,  upon. 


.eMatt.  3:  ll..../ch.  13  ;  15  ;  16: 17....sr  ch.  5:  8;  14:2.- 


porary  events  recognize  his  hand,  alike  in  its 
"goodness"  and  in  its  "severity."  We  may 
come  upon  this  thought  again  as  we  study 
the  pouring  out  of  the  vials,  and  seek  to  find 
there  some  indications  of  that  providence  in 
judging  and  punishing  which  so  accompanies 
the  grace  that  causes  proclamations  of  re- 
demption to  go  forth  in  all  the  lands  and 
languages  of  the  world. 


THE  SEA  OF  GLASS  AND  THE  SEVEN 
LAST  PLAGUES. 

1-4.  The  Sea  of  Glass. 

1.  And  I  saw  another  sign  in  heaven, 
great  and  marvellous.  Another  wonderful 
"sign,"  foreshadowing  things  to  come.  The 
same  word  (o-n-petoi')  has  before  occurred  at  ch. 
12  :  1,  3.  Carpenter  says,  in  his  comment 
there:  "  It  is  a  sign  that  is  seen;  not  a  mere 
wonder,  but  something  which  has  a  meaning  ; 
it  is  not  a  'surprise  ending  with  itself,'  but  a 
signal  to  arrest  attention,  and  possessing  sig- 
nificance ;  there  is  '  an  idea  concealed  behind 
it.'  " — Seven  angels  having  the  seven  last 
plagues.  ''^Having  seven  plagues,  the  last." 
The  Greek,  which  the  revised  version  follows 
more  exactly  than  the  common  one,  em- 
phasizes the  fact  that  these  are  the  last  plagues. 
— For  in  them  is  filled  up  [Jinished]  the 
wrath  of  God.  In  other  words,  these  now 
to  be  described  are  final  judgments;  or, 
speaking  more  correctly,  perhaps,  judgments 
belonging  to  the  last  times.  Those  depicted 
in  the  seals  and  the  trumpets  were,  as  we  then 
saw,  in  a  manner  synchronous ;  the  visions, 
respectively,  covering  very  nearly  the  same 
period,  and  relating  in  general  to  the  same 
events.  Resemblances  with  these,  in  general 
character,  will  be  noted  again  in  the  visita- 
tions at  the  outpouring  of  the  vials.  But 
there  is  this  important  difference,  that  while 
those  of  the  seals  and  the  trumpets  belong 
chiefly  to  the  opening  and  intermediate  cen- 
turies of  the  Chriitian  Diopeuiutlon,  these  of 


the  vials  belong  to  its  close.  In  this  first  verse 
of  the  chapter,  however,  these  closing  scenes 
are  simply  announced  in  a  summary  way, 
anticipating  the  more  particular  description.? 
of  chapters  sixteen  and  seventeen. 

2.  And  I  saw  as  it  were  a  sea  of 
glass  mingled  with  fire.  The  translation 
of  the  revisers,  "a  glassy  sea,"  does  not  seem 
to  express  the  exact  force  of  the  Greek  words 
(lis  vaXivrjv),  wliich  mean  "appearing  as  if  made 
of  glass."  The  appearance  was  that  of  a  sea 
of  glass.  It  had  the  clear,  shining,  crystal- 
like aspect  which  one  sees  in  glass;  but  min- 
gled with  fire — an  element  alike  of  splendor 
and  of  terror.  This  same  sea  of  glass  seems 
to  have  been  before  described  at  ch.  4 :  6, 
where  it  is  spoken  of  as  "before  the  throne." 
Once  more,  then,  our  attention  is  called  to 
the  fact  that  in  these  successive  visions  certain 
features  are  fixed  and  permanent.  Once  more 
the  throne  is  before  us,  and  the  crystal  sea  in 
which  both  it  and  the  form  there  seated  are 
glassed.  It  seems  to  be  agreed  among  ex- 
positors that  the  persons  described  in  the 
words  next  following  stand,  not  upon  the  sea 
itself,  but  upon  the  shore  of  the  sea.  Diister- 
dieck  pronounces  the  former  exposition  un- 
natural, and  "out  of  harmony  with  the 
scenery  in  ver.  4,  6."  He  also  thinks  that 
the  symbolism,  here,  is  in  general  like  that 
in  ch.  22:  1,  et.  seq.,  where  we  read  of  "the 
river  of  the  water  of  life,  clear  as  crystal,  pro- 
ceeding out  of  the  throne  of  God,  and  of  the 
Lamb."  It  is  "on  either  side  of  the  river," 
on  the  banks  of  it,  that  trees  of  life  grow, 
tiieir  fruit  gathered  hy  the  "nations"  of  the 
redeemed,  there  walking  in  glory  and  felicity. 
He  conceives  that  in  like  manner,  here,  the 
"conquering"  ones  throng  the  banks  of  the 
crystal  sea  which  mirrors  the  glory  of  the 
Enthroned  One,  and  testifies  to  them  in  its 
crystal-like  purity  and  its  flame-like  splen- 
dor how  gracious,  j'et  how  just,  how  severe, 
yet  how  righteous,  are  those  "ways"  of  God 
which  become  the  theme  of  their  song.    "The 


212 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XV. 


3  And  they  sing  "the  song  of  Moses  the  servant  of 
God,  and  the  song  of  the  Lamb,  saying,  *(ireat  and 
marvellous  are  thy  works,  Lord  God  Almighty;  <^just 
and  true  are  thy  ways,  thou  King  of  saints. 


3  of  God.  And  they  sing  the  song  of  Moses  the  ser- 
vant of  God,  and  the  song  of  the  Lamb,  saying, 
Great  and  marvellous  are  thy  works,  U  Lord  (iod, 
the  Almighty  ;  righteous  and  true  are  thy  thy  ways, 


a  Ex.  15:  1:  Deut.  31:30;  cli.  14:  3.... 6  Deut.  32  .  4;  Ps.  Ill:  2;  139:  14....cPs.  145:  17;  Hoseal4:9;  ch.  16:  7. 


sea,"  says  Hengstenberg,  "denotes  the  great 
flood  of  the  wonderful  works  of  God,  of  his 
righteous  and  holy  ways,  of  his  judicial  acts, 
manifested  among  men.  The  glass  denotes 
their  blamelessness  and  purity ;  and  the  sea 
being  mingled  with  fire,  indicates  that  it  is 
chiefly  about  the  manifestations  of  God's 
wrath,  his  punitive  righteousness,  that  the 
vision  is  occupied."  The  whole  scene  in  con- 
nection with  the  sea  of  glass,  like  the  burden 
of  the  song  given  below,  is  plainly  intended 
as  a  preparation  for  what  is  to  come  in  the 
outpouring  of  the  vials.  The  first  verse  has 
already  spoken  of  these  as  "filling  up"  the 
wrath  of  God.  In  them  his  righteous  severity 
against  evil  is  exercised.  This  is  symbolized 
in  the  sea  of  glass  mingled  with  fire — setting 
forth,  thus,  in  striking  imagery,  how  pure  and 
yet  how  awful  is  the  divine  justice  when  it 
awakes  to  punish.  This,  also,  as  we  shall  see, 
is  in  part  the  burden  of  the  song  of  those  who 
are  now  to  be  mentioned. — And  them  that 
had  gotten  the  victory  over  the  beast, 
and  over  his  image,  and  over  the  number 
of  his  name,  stand  [standing]  on  the  sea 
of  glass.  "Them  that  come  victorious  from," 
etc.  {Revision).  The  reference,  here,  to  ch. 
13 :  17,  18,  is  evident.  The  beast,  his  image, 
and  the  number  of  his  name,  seem  to  be  used 
in  the  same  general  sense  as  where  Paul  says: 
"  Our  wrestling  is  not  against  flesh  and  blood, 
but  against  the  principalities,  against  the 
powers,  against  the  world-rulers  of  this  dark- 
ness, against  the  spiritual  hosts  of  wickedness 
in  the  heavenly  places"  (Eph.6:i2.  Revision). 
Those  who  stand  upon  the  sea  of  glass  are 
they  who  are  conquerors  over  all  these,  and 
"more  than  conquerors"  through  him  that 
hath  loved  them.  The  expression  "victorious 
//•ow"  is  taken  by  some  commentators  as  in- 
dicating rath(!r  an  escape  than  a  victory  after 
conflict.  Perhaps  it  is  both  ;  since  ,so  often  in 
our  conflict  with  temptation,  and  with  every 
manner  of  evil,  we  prevail  because  delivered 
in  our  weakness  through  him  who  is  our 
strength. — Having  the  harps  of  God.  The 
article  should  be  omitted.  "  Sacred  hari>s," 
says   Alford,    "part  of    the    instruments  of 


heaven,  used  solely  for  the  praise  of  God." 
"The  harps  of  God,"  says  Diisterdieck,  "are 
those  which  serve  alone  for  the  praise  of  God." 
"The  phrase  is  not,"  says  Carpenter,  "to  be 
considered  as  equivalent  to  very  great  or  very 
glorious.  The  harps  they  hold  are  called 
harps  of  God,  not  merely  because  they  are 
dedicated  to  him,  but  because  they  are  truly 
God's.  .  .  .  If  our  power  to  sing  in  trial  here 
a  song  worthy  of  God  is  only  found  in  God, 
so  will  the  songs  of  heaven  be  sweet  only  in 
him ;  for  those  who  dwell  there  shall  be  all 
taught  of  him." 

3.  And  they  sing  the  song  of  Moses, 
the  servant  of  God.  Why  is  it  called  the 
song  of  Moses,  the  servant  of  God  ?  Because 
it  celebrates  deliverance  and  victorj',  as  was 
done  in  the- song  of  Moses  and  the  Children 
of  Israel  after  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea — 
alike  the  deliverance  and  the  victory  being 
ascribed  to  God.  These  words  of  that  ancient 
paean  may  worthily  be  sung  forever  on  the 
harps  of  heaven  :  "The  Lord  is  my  strength 
and  song,  and  he  is  become  my  salvation  :  he 
is  my  God,  and  I  will  prepare  him  a  habita- 
tion;  my  father's  God,  and  I  will  exalt  him. 
.  .  .  Thou  in  thy  mercy  hast  led  forth  the 
people  which  thou  hast  redeemed;  thou  hast 
guided  them  in  thy  strength  unto  thy  holy 
habitation"  (Exod.  i5: 2,  is).  Carpenter,  in  Elli- 
cott,  says :  "  Israel  stood  on  the  margin  of  the 
Red  Sea,  and  saw  the  tokens  of  the  overthrow 
of  the  great  world-power  of  that  day  ;  so  these 
saints  stand  by  the  border  of  the  flre-blent 
sea  of  glass,  and  sing  the  song  of  triumph 
over  the  doom  of  the  great  world-powers  of 
every  age." — The  song  of  the  Lamb.  It 
is  both  of  Moses  and  of  the  Lamb.  Even  the 
song  of  Moses  was  the  song  of  the  Lamb ;  for 
the  Jehovah  of  the  Old  Testament  was  the 
Christ  of  the  New.  The  "Angel  of  the  Cove- 
nant," in  both  Dispensations,  was  one  and  the 
same.  The  song,  therefore,  is  one:  "Not 
two  songs,"  says  Lange,  "sung  respectively 
by  Old  and  New  Testament  believers  (An- 
dreas) ;  not  the  song  of  Moses  applied  to  Christ 
and  the  things  of  Christ  (Grotius);  not  a  song 
composed   at  once   by  Moses  and  the  Lamb 


Ch.  XV.] 


REVELATION. 


213 


4  "Who  shall  not  fear  thee,  O  Lord,  and  glorify  thy 
name?  for  (hijii  only  art,  holy:  for  'all  nations  shall 
come  and  worship  before  thee;  for  thy  judgments  are 
made  manifest. 


4  thou  Kin^  of  the  '  ages.  Who  shall  not  fear,  O  Lord, 
and  glorify  thy  name?  for  thou  only  art  holy;  for 
all  the  nations  shall  come  and  worship  before  thee; 
for  thy  righteous  acts  have  beeil  made  manifest. 


a  Ex.  15 :  14,  15,  16 ;  Jer.  10 :  7 6  Ina.  66  :  23. 1  Many  ancient  authoiiiies  read,  nations. 


(Ewald,  Diisterdieck) ;  but  the  whole  redemp- 
tion as  mediated  by  Moses  and  by  Christ, 
with  a  distinct  reference  to  the  song  of  Moses 
and  the  passage  through  the  Red  Sea,  as  a 
type  of  the  passage  through  those  rivers  of 
fire  by  which  the  faithful  of  the  last  time 
shall  be  separated  from  the  hardened  sinners 
of  that  time." — Saying,  Great  and  mar- 
vellous are  thy  works,  Lord  God  Al- 
mighty; just  and  true  [righteous  and  trice] 
are  thy  ways,  thou  King  of  saints  ["  of  the 
ages,'^  Revision].  "  King  of  the  ages,"  mean- 
ing Eternal  King,  is  the  now  accepted  reading. 
Looking  back  from  the  point  of  final  redemp- 
tion, the  saints  of  God  realize  much  which 
was  dim  to  them  before.  Far  more  than 
when  his  ancient  people  had  reached  the  land 
toward  which  they  had  toiled  during  forty 
weary  years,  will  the  people  of  God,  as  their 
redemption  draws  nigh,  have  occasion  to  say, 
"There  failed  not  aught  of  any  good  thing 
which  the  Lord  God  had  spoken  concerning 
the  house  of  Israel ;  all  came  to  pass."  Then, 
in  their  song,  even  a  review  of  God's  dealings 
towards  his  own  people  will  prompt  the 
strain,  "Righteous  and  true  are  thy  ways." 
In  their  periods  of  trial,  they  may  often  have 
wondered  at  the  methods  alike  of  providence 
and  of  grace;  yet  even  then  they  were  en- 
abled, "through  faith,"  to  work  righteous- 
ness, to  stop  the  mouths  of  lions,  to  quench 
the  violence  of  fire,  to  escape  the  edge  of  the 
sword — "from  weakness  were  made  strong, 
waxed  mighty  in  war,  turned  to  flight  armies 
of  the  aliens."  Much  more,  now,  do  they  see 
how  sure  were  those  promises  in  which  they 
trusted,  how  true  and  how  strong  was  the 
arm  on  which  they  leaned.  The  words, 
"righteous  and  true  are  thy  ways,"  may, 
however,  have  especial  reference  to  those 
"ways"  of  God  in  which  his  righteousness 
and  truth  are  vindicated.  Not  only  does  no 
word  of  promise  fail,  but  no  principle  of 
righteousness  fiiils  of  ultimate  vindication; 
no  word  of  denunciation  against  wrong  and 
wickedness  is  spoken  in  vain.  The  triumph 
of  evil,  in  the  day  of  its  exulting  reign,  is,  as 
compared  with  the  long  eternity  of  its  over- 


throw, but  for  a  moment;  while  not  one  act 
of  outrage  against  God  and  against  his  truth, 
his  throne,  and  name,  and  people,  goes  un- 
avenged. Thus  are  his  "righteous  acts" 
celebrated  by  these  redeemed  spirits,  as  "the 
seven  angels  having  the  seven  plagues,  the 
last,"  in  which  "is  finished  the  wrath  of 
God,"  are  about  to  stand  forth  in  their  mis- 
sion of  judgment. 

4.  Who  shall  not  fear  thee,  O  Lord, 
and  glorify  thy  name?  The  amended  text 
omits  "thee,"  so  that  the  words  stand,  "Who 
shall  not  fear,  O  Lord,  and  glorify  thy 
name?"  The  ground  of  the  question  is  in 
what  follows  in  the  verse. — For  thou  only 
art  holy.  "Glorious  in  holiness,  fearful  in 
praises." — For  all  nations  shall  come  and 
worship  before  thee.  Lange  speaks  of 
what  is  here  uttered  as  "a  genuine  New 
Testament  trait,  as  expressive  of  the  hope  that' 
many  shall  yet  be  converted  even  under  the 
ministry  of  the  vials."  Some  writers,  as  De 
Burgh,  quoted  in  the  Speaker's  Commentary, 
understand  the  words  as  equivalent  to  a  pre- 
diction of  the  conversion  of  the  world  at  our 
Lord's  second  coming.  The  Speaker's  Com- 
mentary itself  much  more  judiciously  treats 
them  as  containing  "the  sum  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament predictions  as  to  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen."  Taken  in  their  whole  connection, 
they  appear  to  us  simply  declarative  of  the 
fact  that  connected  with  the  visitations  of  the 
vials  there  will  be  the  gathering  in  of  gospel 
trophies,  with  the  world's  ultimate  subjection 
to  him  "  whose  right  it  is."  These  visitations 
Lange  very  appropriately  describes  as  "judg- 
ments of  hardening,"  and  we  shall  see,  pre- 
sently, in  what  sense  this  is  eminently  true  of 
them.  Yet  they  are  judgments  of  hardening 
only  for  those  who  are  directly  the  objects  of 
them.  There  are  others  upon  whom  far 
other  infiuences  are  at  work,  and  these  so 
wide  in  their  operation  and  so  eff"ective  as  that 
the  glowing  words  become  true:  "All  nations 
shall  come  and  worship  before  thee."  The 
gospel  ingathering,  contemporaneous  with 
the  vial  judgments,  is  so  wide-reaching  and 
so  abundant,  that  the  phrase,  "all  nations," 


214 


KEVELATION. 


[Ch.  XV. 


5  And  after  that  I  looked,  and,  behold,  "the  temple 
of  the  tabernacle  of  the  testimony  la  heaven  was 
opened : 

G  'And  the  seven  angels  came  out  of  the  temple, 
having  the  seven  plagues,  ''clothed  in  pure  and  wliite 
linen,  and  having  their  breasts  girded  with  golden 
girdles. 


5  And  after  these  things  I  saw,  and  the  temple  of 
the    tabernacle    of  the    testimony  in    heaven  was 

6  opened :  and  there  came  out  from  the  temple  the 
seven  angels  that  had  the  seven  plagues,  arrayed 
^  with  preciuus  stone,  pure  and  bright,  and  girt  about 


acb.  11 :  19.    See  Num.  1 :50 b  ver.  1 c  Ex.  28:  6,  8;  Ezek.  41:  17,  18;  ch.  1 :  13. 1  Mauy  aiicieut  aulborities  read,  in  linen. 


may  with  propriety  be  used  in  describing  it. 
The  period  of  the  vials,  we  may  add,  becomes 
thus  the  more  evident.  It  is  that  period  of 
gospel  progress  and  triumph  which  belongs 
to  the  later  ages  of  the  Dispensation. — For 
thy  judgments  are  made  manifest.  This 
is  a  reason  given  for  what  has  just  been  dis- 
closed. "Righteous  acts,"  as  rendered  by 
the  revisers,  is  more  accurate.  The  Greek 
word  here  (Sucatii/aaTa),  is  the  same  which,  in 
ch.  19:  8,  is  by  some,  as  we  shall  see  in  the 
note  on  that  place,  rendered  "righteousness." 
The  "line  linen"  of  the  bride's  apparel  is 
there  said  to  be  the  "  righteousness ' '  (SucatuiixaTa) 
— -"righteous  acts,"  the  revisers  render,  both 
there  and  here — "of  the  saints."  The  ren- 
dering in  this  place  of  the  common  version 
by  "judgments,"  is  misleading.  It  is  not 
simply  the  manifestation  of  God's  judgments 
that  brings  all  nations  to  worship  him;  it  is 
the  manifest  righteousness  of  his  judgments. 
Wliat  we  understand,  therefore,  is,  that  the 
visitations  of  the  vials,  while  they  operate  as 
punishment  upon  the  direct  objects  of  them, 
will  at  the  same  time  be  in  such  a  way  illus- 
trative of  God's  righteousness  as  that  the 
providences  of  his  administration  shall  join 
with  the  gracious  acts  of  redemption  in  sub- 
duing the  world,  and  bringing  it  to  his  feet. 
The  strong  language  used  may  even  look  for- 
ward to  the  triumphs  and  glories  of  that 
millennial  age,  of  which  we  read  in  the 
twentieth  chapter  of  our  book. 
.  5-8.  The  Angels  of  the  Vials. 

5.  And  after  that  [after  these  things]  I 
looked  [/  saw].  The  succession  is  not  one 
of  time,  but  of  events;  rather  the  seer's  ob- 
servations  of  them.  The  expression  is  equiva- 
lent to,  "What  I  next  saw,"  etc.  It  indicates, 
according  to  Hengstenberg,  "that  the  main 
scene  here  begins,  and  that  what  went  before 
has  only  the  character  of  an  introduction,  a 
prelude." — And,  behold,  the  temple  of  the 
tabernaeic  of  the  testimony  [the  temple 
of  the  tabernacle  of  witness']  in  heaven  was 
opened.  Again  it  is  the  inner  temple,  (•-aos). 
The    expression,    "tabernacle    of    witness" 


occurs  also  at  Acts  7 :  44,  where  Stephen  says 
in  his  address  to  the  Sanhedrim:  "Our 
fathers  had  the  tabernacle  of  witness  in  the 
wilderness."  The  phrase  seems  to  be  sug- 
gested by  the  fact  that  the  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant and  the  tables  of  stone  (called,  in  Exodus 
31:  18, "the  tables  of  testimony")  were  for 
Israel,  during  the  long  period  of  their  history, 
a  "witness"  of  that  covenant  which  God  had 
made  with  them  as  his  chosen  people.  As 
these  were  enshrined  in  the  tabernacle,  this 
last  might  appropriately  be  termed  "the 
tabernacle  of  witness,"  and  as  the  temple, 
upon  its  erection,  served  the  ends  of  the 
tabernacle^  this  also  might,  with  equal  apt- 
ness of  allusion,  be  styled  "the  temple  of 
the  tabernacle."  These  earthly  things,  how- 
ever, were  a  "pattern  of  heavenly  things"  ; 
and  now,  in  the  symbolism  of  the  vision, 
they  re-appear  with  the  higher  significance 
belonging  to  them  as  such.  "It  is,"  says 
Hengstenberg,  "an  elevated  spectacle,  when 
the  temple  of  the  tabernacle  is  opened  in 
heaven — dreadful  for  the  world,  but  joyful, 
though  mingled  with  trembling,  for  the 
church." 

6.  And  the  seven  angels  came  out  of 
the  temple,  having  the  seven  plagues. 
The  order  of  the  words  in  the  revised 
version  is  better.  The  angels  came  out 
from  that  inner  temple,  perhaps  even  from 
that  holy  of  holies,  where  the  symbols  of 
Jehovah's  covenant  with  his  people  were 
enshrined  —  from  the  immediate  pn>sence, 
therefore,  of  those  tokens  of  the  divine 
promise  and  faithfulness,  which  for  so  many 
ages  were  to  his  people  a  reminder  and  a 
pledge.  These  angels  come,  now,  commis- 
sioned to  fulfill  that  divine  word.  Their 
mission,  therefore,  is  not  one  of  wrath  and 
judgment  merely.  It  is,  rather,  the  fulfill- 
ment of  covenant  promise.  Not,  however, 
the  promise  of  blessing  to  his  people  alone, 
but  of  judgment  upon  their  enemies,  as  well. 
If  we  turn  to  those  passages  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament where  promises  are  made  to  Israel, 
especially  as  the  covenant  people,  we  shall  find 


Ch.  XV.] 


REVELATION. 


215 


7  "And  one  of  the  four  beasts  gave  unto  the  seven 
angels  seven  golden  vials  full  of  tlie  wrath  of  (jod, 
'who  liveth  for  ever  and  ever. 


7  their  breasts  with  golden  girdles.  And  one  of  the 
four  living  creatures  gave  unto  the  seven  angeLs 
seven  golden  bowls  full  of  the  wrath  of  Uod,  who 


ich.4:6....i  1  Thess.  1:9;  ch.4:  9;  10:6. 


this  second  feature  of  them  made  exceedingly 
prominent:  "The  Lord  shall  judge  the  ends  of 
the  earth"  (i  Sam. 2:  10);  "He  shall  judge  [vindi- 
cate, avenge]  the  fatherless  and  the  oppressed" 
(p.-.  10:  18) ;  "Arise,  O  God,  and  judge  the 
earth"  {ps.82:8);  "He  shall  judge  the  world 
with  righteousness"  (Ps.96:13);  He  shall 
"judge  among  the  heathen"  (ps. iio:6);  "He 
shall  judge  among  many  nations"  (isa.2:4); 
"Mine  arm  shall  judge  the  people"  (isa.54: 5). 
In  these  and  like  passages,  reference  is  made 
immediately  to  those  enemies  of  Israel  who 
were  their  enemies  because  enemies  of  the 
God  of  Israel ;  hut,  in  their  typical  and 
remoter  sense,  they  cover  that  principle  of 
divine  administration  in  all  its  applications, 
which  keeps  in  view  the  ends  of  final  juatice, 
and  final  and  complete  vindication  of  the 
divine  admini.<tration  itself  This,  also,  is  a 
part  of  Jehovah's  covenant  with  his  people, 
and  this,  also,  he  will  keep  to  the  letter.  In 
the  succession  of  visions  in  our  book,  the 
instruments  to  this  end  are  now  seen  coming 
forth  ;  and  as  significant  of  their  mission  in 
this  feature  of  it,  they  come  from  the  sacred 
inner  chamber,  where  the  Shekinah  is  seen 
above  the  mercy-seat,  and  where  the  ark  of 
the  covenant  stands.  The  expression,  "having 
the  seven  plagues,"  is  simply  indicative  of 
office.  The  "plagues"  are  actually  given  to 
them  with  the  vials;  but  the  words  now  read 
designate  the  seven  angels  oflBciallj'.— Clothed 
in  pure  and  Avhite  linen,  and  having 
their  breasts  girded  with  golden  girdles. 
The  revision  reads,  "arrayed  with  2yrecious 
stone,  pure  and  bright"  — the  words  in 
italics  being  supplied.  The  revisers  follow 
the  text  of  Westcott  and  Hort  (eVSeSu/neVoi 
xieov  KcQapov  kay.-npov),  which  follows  the  Alex- 
andrine manuscript.  The  Sinaitic  reads,  as 
translated,  "  clothed  in  pure,  bright  linen." 
The  authorities  for  the  two  readings,  respec- 
tivelj',  seem  to  be  very  evenly  balanced. 
Perhaps  a  deciding  consideration  might  be 
the  singularity  of  the  reading,  ''■  arrayed 
with  precious  stone."  A  similar  one  is 
found,  however,  in  the  Septuagint,  at  Ezek. 
28:  13,  where  the  splendor  of  the  King  of 
Tyre  is  thus  described:   "Thou  hast  been  in 


Eden,  the  garden  of  God ;  every  precious 
stone  was  thy  covering,  the  sardius,  topaz, 
and  the  diamond."  The  same  Greeic  word, 
(cvSiiu,)  "to  clothe,  dress,  put  on,"  is  used  in  the 
present  passage.  Westcott  and  Hort,  in 
justifying  the  reading  they  prefer,  quote  also 
a  similar  expression  from  Chrj-sostom.  The 
verb  used  by  him,  however,  is  different 
(orrAi^u),  meaning  "to arm,  equip,  encounter." 
Upon  the  other  hand,  the  idea  of  "arrayed 
with  precious  stone,"  seems  almost  an  im- 
possible one.  Alfordsays:  "  The  remarkable 
reading  "stone"  (Aifloc)  can  hardly  be  gen- 
uine, though  strongly  attested."  He  speaks, 
also,  of  "pure  and  glistening  linen"  as  "the 
well-known  clothing  of  angels  and  heavenly 
beings,"  and  refers,  in  proof,  to  Acts  10:  30; 
Matt.  17:  2;  and  28:  3;  and  to  ch.  19:  8,  in 
our  present  book.  Lange  rejects  the  reading 
"stone,"  wholly.  Carpenter,  in  Ellicott, 
does  not  give  any  decision,  although  ap- 
parently preferring  the  word  "  linen  "(Aivoi'). 
Diisterdieck  seems  to  pronounce  for  "the 
more  difficult  reading,"  and  suggests  that  the 
word  "linen"  (kivov)  in  the  Sinaitic  manu- 
script was  substituted  for  the  correct  one, 
because  "stone"  (kienv)  was  thought  to  leave 
the  sense  so  obscure.  The  point  is  not  a  vital 
one.  Our  own  preferences  lean  toward  the 
version,  "arrayed  in  linen,  pure  and  glisten- 
ing." It  is,  as  Alford  shows,  in  such  array 
that  heavenly  beings  are  described  in  various 
parts  of  the  New  Testament,  while  such  a 
description  seems  far  more  congruous  here. 
The  pure  and  glistening  apparel  well  be- 
comes those  who  appear  on  the  scene  as 
ministers  of  the  righteous  purposes  of  the 
pure  God.  The  golden  girdles  remind  us  of 
that  which  our  Lord  himself  wears,  as  de- 
scribed in  ch.  1:18. 

7.  And  one  of  the  four  beasts  [liritig 
creatures]  gave  unto  the  seven  angels 
seven  golden  vials.  "  Bowls,"  rather  than 
"vials,"  is  the  proper  word;  for  the  Greek 
term  (<J>ioAr)),  Alford  says,  means  "a  shallow 
bowl,  or  cup,  in  which  they  drew  out  of  the 
mixing  vessel"  (xpariip^  The  question  as  to 
the  significance  of  the  fact  that  the  vials  are 
given  by  one  of  "the  four  living  creatures," 


216 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XV. 


3  And  "the  temple  was  filled  with  smoke  ' from  the 
glory  of  God,  and  from  his  power;  and  no  man  was 
able  to  enter  iulo  the  temple,  till  the  seven  plagues  of 
the  seven  angels  were  fulfilled. 


8  liveth  1  for  ever  and  ever.  And  the  temple  was  tilled 
with  smoke  from  the  glory  of  God,  and  from  his 
power;  and  none  was  able  to  enter  the  temple,  till 
the  seven  plagues  of  the  seven  angels  should  be 
finished. 


1  Kx.  40:  34;  1  Kiii?s  8:  10-,  2  Ctimn.  6:  14;  I-a.  6:4 b  2  Thess.  1  :  9. 1  Gr.  unto  the  ages  of  the  ages. 


may  be  a  difficult  one.  Hengstenberg  explains 
thus:  "That  the  vials  are  presented  to  angels 
by  one  of  the  four  beasts  is  explained  by  ch. 
16:  1 :  'Pour  out  the  seven  vials  of  the  wrath 
of  God  on  the  earth.''  The  cherubim  [as  such 
he  views  the  beasts]  act  here  as  the  representa- 
tives of  the  living  creatures  of  the  earth,  on 
which  the  judgmetits  of  God  are  to  alight." 
Alford  takes  a  similar  view.  He  regards  the 
living  creatures  (S<ia),  as  "representatives  of 
creation'^;  and  one  of  these  gives  the  vials, 
"inasmuch  as  the  coming  plagues  are  to  be 
inflicted  on  the  objects  of  creation."  This  is 
true  only  in  part.  The  fifth  vial  (ch.  i6:io)  is 
poured  out  "upon  the  beast,"  and  it  is  his 
"kingdom"  that  is  filled  with  "darkness" 
and  "pain."  Besides,  it  can  hardly  be  de- 
nied, we  think,  by  any  one,  that  "the  objects 
of  creation"  mentioned  under  the  several  vials 
are  named  in  a  wholly  symbolical  manner. 
It  will  not  be  claimed  that  there  are,  have 
been,  or  will  bo,  literal  fulfillments  of  what  is 
thus  shadowed  forth.  The  real  objects  of  the 
visitation  are  men,  and  the  world  of  nature  is 
only  used  in  the  description  for  purposes  of 
imagery.  The  reason  given  above  for  the 
fact  under  consideration  does  not  seem,  there- 
fore, quite  adequate.  Carpenter's  statement 
appears  to  be  better:  "  These  vials  are  given 
by  one  of  the  living  creatures  who  represent 
creation  ;  it  is  through  creation  that  the  wrath 
of  God  can  visit  the  rebellious  ;  that  wrath  of 
God  is  simply  the  operation  of  God's  righteous 
law  against  sin.  His  statutes  are  eternally 
righteous.  He  has  given  to  all  things  a  law 
which  cannot  be  broken ;  that  law  is  adverse 
to  evil,  and  will  in  the  end  cast  it  out,  for  it 
does  the  bidding  of  God,  who  lives  unto  the 
ages  of  the  ages."  Dr.  Vaughan's  comment 
is:  "These  incense-bowls  are  given  to  the 
ministering  angels  by  one  of  the  four  living 
beings  who  represent  creation.  The  agencies 
of  which  we  are  about  to  read  as  employed  in 
the  judgments  which  follow  are,  in  form  at 
least,  judgments  upon  natural  objects,  and 
judgments  by  natural  instruments  also."  It 
may  be  proper  to  connect  with  the  passage 
under  consideration  those  powerful  words  of 


the  apostle  in  Kom.  8:  19,  20,  21:  "For  the 
earnest  expectation  of  the  creation  waiteth  for 
the  revealing  of  the  sons  of  God.  For  the 
creation  was  subjegted  to  vanity,  not  of  its 
own  will,  but  by  reason  of  him  who  subjected 
it,  in  hope  that  the  creation  also  shall  be  de- 
livered from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into 
the  liberty  of  the  glory  of  the  children  of 
God."  {Revision.)  Viewing  the  living  crea- 
tures as  representatives  of  the  physical  crea- 
tion, it  seems,  in  the  light  of  such  a  concep- 
tion of  its  participation  in  the  etfects  of  the 
fall,  as  this  in  the  passage  just  cited,  emi- 
nently suitable  that  they  should,  in  the  sym- 
bolism of  the  vision,  be  seen  deeply  interested 
in  the  events  through  which  the  final  "re- 
vealing of  the  sons  of  God"  is  drawn  on. 
Repeatedly  on  former  occasions  we  have 
found  them  sharing  with  the  four  and  twenty 
elders  in  paeans  of  praise  to  God,  as  the  crea- 
tor, and  the  righteous  sovereign.  Here,  again, 
they  exhibit  a  like  participation,  and  by 
their  act  of  giving  the  judgment-vials  to  the 
instruments  of  divine  purpose,  indicate  the 
fact  that  not  man  alone,  but  the  whole  uni- 
verse of  being  is  in  waiting  for  "the  new 
heaven,  and  the  new  earth,  wherein  dwelletli 
righteousness." — Full  of  the  wrath  of  God, 
who  liveth  forever  and  ever.  It  is  import- 
ant not  to  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  (xod's 
"wrath "  in  such  places  as  this  is  to  be  under- 
stood only  in  the  sense  proper  to  an  infinitely 
good  and  just  being.  It  is  that  holy  indig- 
nation which  arms  itself  against  all  wicked- 
ness, and  that  absolute  punitive  justice  which 
is  as  essential  in  the  conception  of  a  perfect 
ruler,  as  is  the  mercy  that  pities,  and  when  it 
may,  forgives. 

8.  And  the  temple  was  filled  with 
smoke  from  the  glory  of  God  and  from 
his  power.  In  the  sixth  of  Isaiah  we  read: 
"I  saw  also  the  Lord  sitting  upon  a  throne, 
high  and  lifted  up,  and  his  train  filled  the 
temple.  Above  it  stood  the  seraphim  :  each 
one  had  six  wings:  with  twain  he  covered  his 
face,  and  with  twain  he  covered  his  feet,  and 
with  twain  he  did  fly.  And  one  cried  unto 
another,   and   said.   Holy,    holy,   holy  is  the 


Ch.  XV.] 


REVELATION. 


217 


Lord  of  hosts:  the  whole  earth  is  full  of  his 
glory.  And  the  posts  of  the  door  moved  at 
the  voice  of  him  that  cried,  and  the  house 
was  filled  with  smoke."  This  impressive 
picture  seems  to  be  here  reproduced.  What 
we  are  made  to  see,  is  the  manifested  presence 
of  God;  the  "smoke,"  here,  answering  to 
the  "cloud"  so  often  associated  with  mani- 
festations of  the  divine  presence. — And  no 
man  was  able  to  enter  into  the  temple, 
till  the  seven  plagues  of  the  seven  angels 
were  fulfilled.  ''Finished,''^  or  '^ ended," 
would  be  an  accurate  rendering  of  the  Greek. 
An  impressive  way,  it  would  seem,  of  setting 
forth  the  inexorableness  of  the  doom  now 
about  to  fall  on  those  who  are  the  objects  of 
the  visitation.  None  can  enter  the  temple  to 
intercede.  From  that  sacred  place  and  that 
awful  Presence,  the  ministers  of  judgment  go 
forth,  and  "the  door  is  shut." 

EXCUESUS  C— THE  VIALS. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  chapter 
of  the  book,  as  already  explained,  the  visions 
we  are  studying  present  to  us  the  Kingdom 
of  God,  in  its  essential  nature,  as  in  conflict 
with  that  which  is  most  essential  in  antichris- 
tian  hostility.  We  thus  distinguish  this  part 
of  our  book  from  the  portion  comprehended 
between  the  fourth  and  eleventh  chapters, 
inclusive,  where  the  view  presented  is  more 
of  the  external  and  outward  relations  of  the 
church  to  the  world,  The  imagery  in  this 
earlier  portion,  as  several  times  noted,  rests 
upon  Israelitish  history  as  recording  events 
growing  out  of  the  relations  of  Israel  with 
their  heathen  enemies.  In  that  later  portion 
of  the  book  with  which  we  are  now  dealing, 
it  is  the  Church  of  God  as  distinctively  Chris- 
tian that  conies  into  view  ;  and  the  two  great 
powers  whose  struggle  is  thus  vividly  repre- 
sented on  the  Apocalyptic  scene,  are,  upon 
the  one  side,  Christ  and  his  church  ;  upon  the 
other.  Antichrist  and  the  deadly  array  of 
forces,  earthly,  sensual,  and  devilish,  mar- 
shaled  under  his   banner. 

The  pivotal  passages  in  the  earlier  section 
of  the  book  thus  distinguished  (chs.  4-11),  are 
those  of  the  seals  and  the  trumpets.  One 
fact,  now,  it  is  pertinent  to  our  present  pur- 
pose to  notice.  At  the  opening  of  the  seventh 
seal,  the  movement  of  the  vision  comes  to  a 
pause,  while,  as  in  the  shifting  of  the  scenery 
in  the  exhibition   of  some  great  drama,    an 


entirely  new  set  of  representations  begins;, 
with  the  coming  forward  of  the  trumpet- 
angels.  The  sounding  of  the  seventh  trum- 
pet, in  like  manner,  is  followed  by  results 
different  from  those  of  either  of  tlie  ])receding 
six.  We  hear  it  as  a  blast  of  triumph,  and 
immediately  is  heard  the  loud  acclaim,  "The 
kingdom  of  the  world  is  become  the  kiruj- 
dom  [the  possession]  of  our  Lord  and  of  his 
Christ"  (Revision)." 

As  the  seventh  seal  is  opened,  we  are  told 
that  "there  was  silence  in  heaven  for  the 
space  of  half  an  hour."  This  we  have  in- 
terpreted as  indicating  a  pause  in  the  Apoca- 
lyptic movement,  with  intimation  of  the 
peace  and  rest  which  follow  the  long  and 
hot  ordeal  of  Christian  trial.  There  may  be 
in  this  a  glancing  forward  to  the  final  end, 
yet  the  point  in  the  Apocalj^ptic  develop- 
ment distinctively  reached,  we  take  to  be  the 
same  as  that  indicated  by  the  seventh  trum- 
pet. This  we  have  explained  as  being,  not 
the  end  of  the  world,  or  of  the  Dispensation, 
but  the  appearance  of  a  great  and  moment- 
ous epoch;  the  closing  of  that  period  of 
fierce  ordeal  which  had  lasted  through  so 
many  centuries,  and  the  beginning  of  a  new 
order,  in  which  the  Kingdom  of  God  enters 
upon  a  series  of  triumphs  that  sliall  last  on 
to  the  end.  It  is  to  this  subsequent  period 
that  the  vials  belong.  They  do  not  represent 
the  same  period,  nor  the  same  events,  as  the 
seals  and  the  trumpets.  They  belong  to  that 
period  in  which  the  truth  of  those  words 
shall  be  historically  made  certain — "the 
kingdom  of  the  world  is  become  the  posses- 
sion of  our  Lord  and  his  Christ."  They  are 
the  reverse  side  of  that  picture,  on  which  are 
seen  revealed  the  victories  of  redemption, 
the  triun)ph  of  the  Kedoemer  and  "them 
that  are  with  him"  over  Antichrist  and  all 
his  array. 

If  this  view  be  a  just  one,  then  the  study 
of  the  two  chapters,  especially,  to  be  next 
taken  up,  the. sixteenth  and  seventeenth,  will 
have  for  us  an  interest  even  greater  than  in 
the  case  of  those  already  considered.  For 
the  period  to  which  thej^  relate  is  the  period 
to  which  our  own  ago  belongs;  the  period 
reaching  from  that  great  epoch,  the  Refor- 
mation, down  to  the  (;nd  of  the  Dispensation. 
The  twelfth  and  thirteenth  chapters  have 
rapidly  sketched,  in  outline,  the  fortunes  oif 
the  Kingdom  of  God,  from  the  birth  of  the 


218 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XVI. 


CHAPTEK  XVI. 


AND  I  heard  a  great  voice  out  of  the  temple  saying 
"to  tlie  seven  angels,  Go  your  ways,  and  pour  out 
the  vials  'of  the  wrath  of  God  upon  the  earth. 


1  And  I  heard  a  great  voice  out  of  the  temple,  say- 
ing to  the  seven  angels,  Go  ye,  and  pour  out  the 
seven  bowls  of  the  wrath  of  God  into  the  earth. 


a  ch.  15 :  1. . .  .6  ch.  14 :  10  ;  15-7. 


Man-child,  through  those  vicissitudes  which 
followed  upon  the  development  of  the  anti- 
christian  spirit,  down  to  the  same  point  as  was 
indicated  by  the  seventh  seal  and  the  seventh 
trumpet.  The  fourteenth  chapter  opens  with 
a  general  picture  of  the  redeemed  multitude, 
standing  on  Mount  Zion,  while  all  heaven 
resounds  with  the  new  song  of  redemption. 
Then  appears  the  gospel  angel  fljnng  in  mid- 
heaven  with  a  proclamation  of  glad  tidings 
for  the  whole  world,  indicating  that  the  time 
has  at  last  come  when,  indeed,  as  the  Lord 
promised,  "this  gospel  of  the  kingdom  shall 
be  preached  unto  all  nations."  At  the  same 
time  great  Babylon  falls;  the  power  that  had 
been  so  prosperous  in  wickedness,  so  formid- 
able in  its  hostility,  so  seductive  and  yet  so 
fierce,  reads  the  hand-writing  of  its  own 
final-doom.  Then  comes  upon  the  scene  one 
"like  unto  the  Son  of  man,"  and  reaps  the 
ripe  harvest  that  grows  from  the  world-wide 
sowing  of  the  seed;  and  next  the  angel  of 
judgment  with  his  own  sharp  sickle  gathering 
the  vintage  of  the  earth's  wickedness,  and 
casting  it  into  "the  wine-press  of  the  wrath 
of  God."  All  this  is  general  and  anticipa- 
tory. With  the  fifteenth  chapter  a  new  series 
of  visions  begins,  and  that  which  had  before 
been  thus  delineated  as  if  in  outline  appears 
in  detail,  while  the  prophecy  becomes  more 
easy  of  elucidation  from  the  stand-point  of 
history.  The  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  chap- 
ters describe  the  pouring  out  of  the  vials,  with 
the  effects  that  follow.  The  eighteenth  chap- 
ter is  a  wonderfully  vivid  description  of  the 
overthrow  of  Babylon,  or  the  final  destruc- 
tion of  Antichrist;  following  which,  to  the 
end  of  the  book,  the  pictures  are  all  descrip- 
tive of  the  victories  and  glories  of  redemption, 
with  only  incidental  mention  of  calamities 
that  visit  the  enemies  of  God — save  that,  in 
the  closing  verses  of  the  twentieth  chapter  we 
have  the  awful  picture  of  the  last  judgment. 
The  vials,  then,  are  to  be  explained  in  the 
light  of  recent  history,  and  in  that  of  events 
now  passing.  Possibly  some  difficulty  may 
be  sugg(!sted  by  the  nature  of  the  effects 
which,  in  the  vision,  follow  the  pouring  out 
of  the  vials,  severally.     If  the  reader,  how- 


ever, has  accepted  the  system  of  exposition  in 
the  case  of  the  seals  and  the  trumpets,  he  will 
readily  see  how  all  the  imagery,  forceful  and 
striking  as  it  is,  must  be  taken.  The  fact  that 
it  is  imagery  is  the  key  to  the  whole  difficulty. 
It  is  perfectly  consistent  with  the  prophetic 
method  in  this  book,  as  has  again  and  again 
become  evident,  that  objects  in  the  material 
world,  and  visitations  of  a  physical  nature, 
represent  in  symbol  events  in  history,  in 
human  experience,  and  even  in  the  sphere  of 
spiritual  things.  We  are  not,  therefore,  to 
understand  any  of  these  descriptions  literally, 
but  view  them  as  imagery,  and  seek  for  that, 
under  the  imagery,  which  will  be  for  us  their 
true  meaning. 

It  will  be  noticed,  as  we  proceed  in  our 
exposition,  that  the  "seven  plagues"  have 
certain  striking  resemblances  to  those  which 
were  visited  upon  Egypt,  as  described  in  Exo- 
dus. This  is  simply,  again,  the  prophetic 
method  followed,  more  or  less,  throughout 
this  book.  To  a  very  large  extent,  the  Old 
Testament  history  supplies  the  Apocalyptic 
imagery.  And  this  is  quite  in  keeping  with 
the  New  Testament  method,  as  a  whole.  The 
newer  record  continually  refers  back  to  the 
older  one;  the  history  in  the  New  Dispensa- 
tion links  on  to  the  history  in  the  Old  Dis- 
pensation ;  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  are 
fulfilled  in  the  New;  the  law,  even,  "is 
become  our  tutor,  to  bring  us  to  Christ." 
(Revised  Vei'sion).  So  it  is  here.  The  pro- 
phet of  the  New  Testament  clothes  his  visions 
in  the  costume  of  the  Old,  and  we  are  thus 
made  to  see  how  the  whole  record  is  one ;  that 
it  is  one  Kingdom  of  God  whose  law  is  re- 
vealed, whose  privileges  are  declared,  whose 
earthly  fortunes  are  described  or  foreshad- 
owed, and  whose  final  glory  is  predicted, 
from  the  first  word  of  the  first  inspired  prayer 
to  the  final  benediction  at  the  close. 


THE  POURING  OUT  OF  THE  VIALS. 

1,2.  Thk  Fikst  Vial. 

1.  And  I  hoard  a  great  voice  out  of  the 
temple.  We  must  recall  what  is  described 
in  the  closing  verse  of  the  previous  chapter; 
the  temple  filled  with  tokens  of  the   divine 


Ch.  XVI.] 


REVELATION. 


219 


2  And  the  first  went,  and  poured  out  his  vial  "upon 
the  earth;  and  ''there  lell  a  noisome  and  grievous  sore 
upon  the  men  » which  had  the  marlc  of  the  beast,  and 
upon  them  ''■  which  worshipped  his  image. 


2  And  the  tirst  went,  and  poured  out  his  bowl  into 
the  earth ;  and  '  it  became  a  noisome  and  Ki'ievous 
sore  upon  the  men  who  had  the  mark  of  the  beast, 
and  who  worshipped  his  image. 


.ch.8:7....6Ex.9:9,  10,  11.... cch.  13:16,  17.... dch.  13:14. \  Or,  there  came. 


presence,  and  all  save  that  presence  excluded. 
This  "voice,"  therefore,  is  a  divine  voice,  and 
the  command  a  command  of  God  himself. — 
Saying  to  the  seven  angels.  Go  your 
\vays  {Go  ye]  and  pour  out  the  seven 
vials  [boivls]  of  the  wrath  of  God  upon 
[into]  the  earth.  As  before  explained,  the 
word  translated  "vials"  is  properly  "bowls." 
They  are  bowls  "of  the  wrath  of  God";  that 
is  to  say,  they  represent  the  judgment  side  of 
his  dispensations — visitations  upon  opposing 
powers  and  forces  which  are  in  the  world  at 
the  same  time  with  the  instruments  and 
methods  of  redemption,  and  are  in  an  attitude 
of  continual  hostility  and  opposition  to  these. 
The  expression,  "wrath  of  God,"  must  not 
be  misinterpreted.  It  is  in  some  sense  a 
strongly  figurative  one.  It  is  "wrath"  in 
that  only  meaning  of  the  word  which  is  con- 
sistent with  the  character  and  acts  of  a  holy 
being;  not  vindictive  wrath,  not  a  mere  out- 
burst of  violence,  but  righteous  indignation 
felt  toward  the  evil,  and  the  visitation  upon 
it  of  deserved  punishment.  By  as  much  as 
God  approves  the  good,  he  disapproves  the 
bad ;  by  as  much  as  he  desires  and  delights  in 
the  welfare  of  all  sentient  being,  by  so  much 
is  his  displeasure  excited  against  that  which 
creates  and  propagates  misery  ;  and  while  his 
power  is  active  in  lending  efficiency  to  the 
instrumentalities  by  which  he  saves,  the  same 
power  is  also  active  in  subduing  and  ulti- 
mately paralyzing  that  which  destroys.  Thus 
the  manifestation  of  God  in  history  has  the 
two  sides,  mercy  and  judgment.  It  is  the 
judgment-side  that  is  here  brought  to  view. 
That  God  permits,  for  a  time,  the  apparent 
triumph  of  evil — that  he  even  allows  it  to 
exist  at  all — is  one  of  those  mysteries  which 
cannot  now  be  solved.  Though  he  permits 
it,  however,  he  does  not  tolerate  it,  and  the 
day  of  its  doom  is  sure  to  come.  The  ex- 
pression, "Go  your  ways,"  is  an  old  English 
form,  for  which  the  revisers  properly  substi- 
tute the  better  one,  "Go  ye."  The  preposi- 
tion translated  in  the  common  version  "upon" 
(6is\  means  "into."  The  vials  are  poured 
out  "into  the  earth"  just  as  in  ch.  8:  .'),  the 


fire  from  the  altar  is  cast  into  the  earth,  as  the 
trumpets  are  about  to  sound. 

2.    And    the    first    went    and    poured 
out   his  vial   upon   [into]  the  earth.     The 

words  "earth,"  "sea,"  "rivers,"  "foun- 
taiiLs,"  "sun,"  "air,"  etc.,  seem  to  be  used 
in  this  chapter,  with  the  exception  of  the 
word  earth  in  ver.  1,  with  symbolical  mean- 
ing. The  whole  representation,  as  noted  above 
in  "Excursus  C,"  is  imagery,  events  in  the 
world  of  men  and  in  history  being  set  forth 
under  a  symbolism  resting  on  objects  and  in- 
cidents in  the  world  of  nature.  The  word 
"earth,"  in  ver.  1,  appears  to  be  used  in  a 
general  sense,  embracing  alike  the  world  of 
nature  and  the  world  of  men  ;  in  ver.  2  in  a 
more  special  sense;  antithetical  to  "sea,"  in 
ver.  3.  The  mention  of  "the  beast"  in  ver. 
2  may  help  to  explain  the  symbolism  in  the 
word  "earth."  The  wild  beast  mentioned  in 
ch.  13:  11,  comes  "up  out  of  the  earth." 
This  we  have  explained  as  that  later  develop- 
ment of  Antichrist  seen  in  a  corrupt  ecclesias- 
ticism  and  an  opprecsive  hierarchy,  the  Rome 
of  the  Papacy,  "exercising  all  the  power" 
of  the  beast  out  of  the  sea,  which  is  Antichrist 
in  his  development  as  a  hostile  and  persecu- 
ting world-power.  In  this  second  verse  of  our 
chapter,  the  first  judgment  vial  is  poured  out 
upon  the  earth  whence  the  second  beast,  or 
the  spiritual  Antichrist,  comes  forth  ;  in  other 
words,  it  is  a  visitation  upon  that  system  of 
"spiritual  wickedness"  represented  and  em- 
bodied in  the  papal  Antichrist. — And  there 
fell  a  noisome  and  grievous  sore  upon 
the  men  which  had  the  mark  of  the 
beast,  and  upon  them  which  worshipped 
his  image.  The  second  beast,  we  are  told  in 
ch.  13:  12-16,  compelled  "the  earth  and  them 
who  dwell  therein"  to  receive  the  mark  of 
the  first  beast  "in  their  right  hand  and  in 
their  forehead,"  and  also  that  they  should 
make  and  worship  "an  image  to  the  beast." 
This  he  does  while  "exercising  all  the  power 
of  the  first  beast  before  him."  In  this  way  it 
is  indicated  how  the  oppressive  and  persecu- 
ting spiritual  power  re-produced  in  itself  all 
the  worst  elements  of  the  oppressive  and  per- 


220 


REVELATION, 


[Ch.  XVI. 


3  And  the  second  angel  poured  out  his  vial  «  upon  the 
eea;  and  'it  becuuie  as  the  blood  of  a  dead  man:  'a.nd 
every  living  soul  died  iu  the  sea. 


3  And  the  second  poured  out  his  bowl  into  the  sea; 
and  1  it  became  blood  as  of  a  dead  man  ;  and  every 
2  living  soul  died,  even  the  things  that  were  in  the 
sea. 


1  ch.  3:8 6  Ex.  7:  17,  20 cch.  8:  9. 1  Or,  there  came 2  Gr.  soul  of  life. 


secuting  secular  power;  the  Kome  of  the 
Papacy  wa.s  the  Rome  of  the  empire  under  a 
new  and  even  worse  form.  That  subjection 
which  it  claimed  and  enforced  was  a  submis- 
sion to,  and  adoration  of,  the  tyrannical 
usurpation  practiced  by  the  emperors,  and 
now  renewed  by  the  popes.  The  "mark" 
(xopayfia),  was  a  sign  of  subjection,  or  servitude. 
By  those,  therefore,  who  "had  the  mark  of 
the  beast"  and  "worshipped  his  image"  are 
meant  the  subjects  and  servants  of  the  papal 
Anticiirist.  What  we  read  here  of  the  "noi- 
some and  grievous  sore"  reminds  us  of  the 
"boils"  in  the  sixth  Egyptian  plague  (Ex.  7:20). 
The  word  translated  "sore"  means,  in  the 
Greek,  a  running  sore,  ulcer,  or  boil.  That 
ancient  visitation  is  thus  made  the  basis 
of  the  imagery  used  in  the  present  passage. 
The  oj)pressive,  tyrannical,  and  God-defying 
Pharaoh  was  himself  "the  beast"  in  one  of 
his  earliest  forms  of  historical  manifestation. 
The  physical  judgment  sent  upon  him  and 
his  people  was  an  example,  and  in  some  sense 
a  type,  of  the  judgment  with  which  God  will 
sooner  or  later  visit  every  form  of  iniquitous 
usurpation.  What  was  there  physical,  how- 
ever, is  here  spiritual ;  or  rather,  by  the 
"sore,"  must  be  understood  what  is  of  the 
mind  rather  than  of  the  body — that  conscious- 
ness of  impending  overthrow,  the  torment  of 
internal  dissension,  and  "the  fearful  looking- 
for  of  judgment  "  which  comes  upon  iniqui- 
tous and  oppressive  powers  as  the  day  of  doom 
for  them  draws  on.  There  was  a  time  when 
Antichri.st  feared  nothing,  in  heaven  or  in 
earth.  Earthly  powers  acknowledged  his 
supremacy,  and  even  his  blasphemous  pre- 
tensions to  a  divine  prerogative  appeared  to 
pass  unchallenged.  But  that  time  passed 
away.  And  now  for  a  long  period,  the 
"noisome  and  grievous  sore,"  of  conscious 
decline  and  impending  doom  has  fallen  upon 
this  evil  jxiwer  and  upon  all  who  have  borne 
at  its  bidding  the  mark  of  the  beast,  and  have 
worshiped  his  image. 

3.  TiiK  Skconu  Vial. 

3.  And   the    second   angel    poured    out 
his  vial  upon  [inio]  the  sea.     The  "sea," 


in   the   symbolism   of  this  book,    represents, 
according    to    Lange, "   the    worldly   life    of 
states  and  nations"  ;  according  to  Carpenter, 
in   Ellicott,    "the  tumultuous   impulses  and 
passions  of  the  masses."     Both   these  are  no 
doubt   included    in    the   conception   as  com- 
plete.    It  was  out  of  this  sea  that  Antichrist, 
as   the   first  beast — the   hostile   world-power 
— arose.     The  appearance  of  the  second  beast 
does    not    imply    the    c/isappearance    of   the 
first;    only  the  two  are  confederate  in  their 
war  upon   the   kingdom   of   God,  while  the 
"power"    of  the    first   "exercised"    by   the 
second,  makes  this  later  form   of  the  anti- 
christian  development  all  the  more  formid- 
able.    Especially  does  that  sea  of  disturbed 
and  tumultuous  world-life  out  of  which  the 
first  beast  arises,  remain.     A  time  will  come 
when  there  shall  be  "no  more  sea"  (cii. 21:1), 
but  that  time  is  not  yet. — And  it  became  as 
the  blood  of  a  dead  man:  and  every  liv- 
ing soul  died  in  the  sea.  Literally',  "every 
soul  of  life" — "in  its  physical  sense,"  says 
Alford,  "of  animal  soul."     The  final  clause 
of  the  verse  may  properly  have  the  more  full 
rendering  of  the  revised  version,   "'even  the 
things  that  were  in   the  sea."     We  are  re- 
minded of  the  first  Egyptian  plague  (Ex. 7: 20); 
also  of  the  effect  follovnng  the  sounding  of 
the  second  trumpet  in  ch.  8:  8,  9,  of  this  book, 
where  "a  great  mountain  burning  with  fire" 
is  cast  into  the  sea,  and  the  third  part  of  the 
sea    becomes    blood,    the    third   part  of  the 
creatures  in  it  die,  and  a  third   part  of  the 
ships  are  destroyed.     What  we  have  in  our 
present  passage  must  not  be  taken  as  a  repe- 
tition of  the  one  just  mentioned,  nor  as  re- 
ferring to  the  same  events.     The  differences 
are  obvious.     The  resemblance  is  in  the  fiiot 
that  the  visitation  now  is  upon  the  same  form 
of  disturbed   human    life,    with    like   effects. 
This  effect,  however,  is  more  complete;   for 
^''every  soul  of  life"  and  the  things  that  are 
in   the   sea  "die,"   instead  of  only  "a   third 
part,"  as  before;.     So,  also,  does  the  form  of 
the  visitation  diff'cr.     It  is  not,  now,  as  in  ch. 
8:  8,  9,  a  great  wi>rld-power,  the  Roman  Em- 
pire,   bursting    into   volcanic    eruptions,    ex- 


Ch.  XVI.] 


REVELATION. 


221 


4  And  the  third  angel  poured  out  his  vial  "upon  the 
rivers  aud  louutains  ol  waters;  *and  they  became 
blood. 

5  And  I  heard  the  angel  of  the  waters  say,  "Thou 
art  righteous,  O  Lord,''wliich  art,  and  wast,  and  shalt 
be,  because  thou  hast  judged  thus. 


4  And  the  third  poured  out  his  bowl  into  the  rivers 
and  the  fountains  of  the  waters;  '  and  -it  became 

5  blood.    Aud  I  heard  the  angel  of  the  waters  saying, 
Righteous  art  thou,  who  art  and  who  wast,  thou 


och.  8:  10 6  Ex.  7  :  20 c  cli.  15:  3 d  ch.  1 :  4,  8;  4 :  8;  11 :  17. 1  Some  authorities  read,  and  they  became...  2  Or,  there  < 


oloding  in  fragments,  blazing  in  self-destruc- 
tion, and  destroying  in  turn  on  every  side;  it 
is  a  less  obvious  but  more  destructive  visita- 
tion. The  pouring  out  of  the  vial  is  a  silent 
act,  such  as  God's  dispensations  so  often  are. 
There  are  no  immediate  signs  of  a  great  world 
cataclj'sin  taking  place.  Yet  the  judgment  is 
all  the  more  awful  because  of  this  silence, 
and  its  effects  more  terrible  because  an  im- 
mediate and  direct  dispensation  of  indignant 
divine  justice.  Yet  we  observe  that  "the 
sea"  itself  is  made  the  instrument  of  the 
punishment.  Its  waters  become  blood,  and 
these  destroy  the  life  that  is  in  them.  It  is 
through  processes  inherent  in  the  nature  of 
man,  of  events,  and  of  that  system  of  things 
which  he  has  ordained,  that  God  works,  in 
judgment  equally  as  in  mercy.  "The  worldly 
life  of  states  and  nations,"  says  Lange,  "be- 
comes the  subject  of  a  process  of  decompo- 
sition which  leads  to  death.  Consummate 
passionate  subjectivism  and  party-spirit,  in 
all  the  forms  of  senseless  self-intoxication,  in 
mercantile,  socialistic,  absolutist,  and  many 
other  directions,  finally  rupture  all  social, 
popular,  and  political  coherence.  The  sea 
becomes  blood,  and  this  blood  is  as  that  of  a 
dead  man;  dead  blood.  All  the  goods  of  the 
social  life  of  the  nations  lose  their  vital  value, 
because  they  have  become  the  property  of 
consummate  egoism.  They  are  dead  like  the 
men  who  determine  their  value,  and  operate 
fatally  upon  every  one  who  would  carry  on 
his  life  in  this  sea  of  blood.  Every  living 
being,  it  is  declared,  died  in  the  sea."  Saj^s 
Carpenter:  "The  sea,  out  of  which  the  wild 
beast  rose,  from  which  the  world-power  drew 
strength,  is  turned  to  blood,  the  blood  as  of  a 
dead  man,  corrupt  and  loathsome.  The  sea 
represented  the  tumultuous  impulses  and  pas- 
sions of  the  masses;  there  is  a  certain  healthy 
force  in  these,  but  under  certain  conditions, 
when  devoted  to  selfishness  and  earthliness, 
they  become  corrupt  and  deadly.  Ruled  by 
God  and  by  right,  the  voice  of  multitudes  is 
melodious  as  the  voice  of  the  sea,  and  the 
free  movement  of  peoples  like  the  ocean,  a 
health-giving  moral  environment  to  nations; 


but  swayed  by  impulse,  or  directed  by  world- 
liness,  they  become  an  element  of  corruption, 
killing  every  token  of  a  better  life."  How 
the  prophecy  as  thus  expounded  is  fulfilled  in 
the  history  of  recent  times,  with  other  fulfill- 
ments yet  to  come,  we  notice  in  the  General 
Comments  below. 
4-7.  The  Third  Vial. 

4.  And  the  third  ans^el  poured  his  vial 
upon  [into']  the  rivers  aud  fountains  of 
[the]  waters;  and  they  became  [it  became] 
hlood.  Something  like  this,  also,  is  described 
(ch.8:  10)  as  occurring  at  the  sounding  of  the 
third  trumpet.  "A  great  star"  falls  "from 
heaven.  .  .  burning  as  a  torch  ;  and  it  fell  upon 
the  third  part  of  the  rivers,  and  upon  the  foun- 
tains of  the  waters.  .  .  .  and  many  men  died 
of  the  waters,  because  they  were  made  bitter." 
In  our  present  passage  the  waters  become 
blood.  The  symbolism  of  the  rivers  and  the 
fountains  of  waters  is  the  same  in  both  places ; 
and  there  is  a  similarity  in  the  causes  and  the 
effects  described.  But,  as  in  the  case  before 
noticed,  there  are  also  differences.  The  causes 
now  operating  are  more  sweeping,  and  their 
effects  still  more  destructive.  Those  sources 
and  currents  of  national  life  from  which  and 
hy  which  it  is  sustained,  are  now  worse  than 
embittered — they  are  turned  to  blood.  Knowl- 
edge becomes  deadly,  opinion  corrupt  and 
poisonous,  those  elements  of  faith,  virtue, 
piety,  so  essential  in  the  mental  life  of  peo- 
ples, equally  as  in  the  soul-life  of  the  indi- 
vidual, undergo  deadly  transformation. 

5.  And  I  heard  the  angel  of  the  waters 
say.  Grotius,  quoted  by  Alford  and  Dtister- 
dieck,  interprets  "the  angel  of  the  waters" 
as  meaning  the  angel  who  poured  out  the 
vial  into  the  waters.  Diisterdieck  thinks  the 
angel  symbolizes  the  waters,  as  the  four  liv- 
ing beings  symbolize  creation  in  general.  De 
Wette  understands  the  guardian  angel  of  the 
waters.  Lange  proposes  a  mystical  significa- 
tion, which  need  not  be  even  quoted.  The 
angel  of  the  waters  appears  to  be  a  purely 
symbolical  being,  like  the  four  angels  men- 
tioned in  ch.  7:1:  "standing  on  the  four 
corners  of  the  earth,  holding  the  four  winds 


222 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XVL 


6  For  ""they  have  she<l  the  blood  'of  saints  and  pro- 
phets,''aud  thou  hast  given  them  blood  to  drink;  for 
they  are  worthy. 

TAnd  I  heard  another  out  of  the  altar  say,  Even  so, 
•^Lord  Uod  Almighty,  'true  and  righteous  a/e  thy  judg- 
ments. 

8  And  the  fourth  angel  poured  out  his  vial  /upon  the 
sun;  ffand  power  was  given  unto  him  to  scorch  men 
with  fire. 


6  Holy  One,  because  thou  didst  thus  'judge:  for  they 
poured  out  the  blood  of  saints  and  prophets,  and 
blood    hast    thou    given    them    to  drink:  they   are 

7  worthy.  And  I  heard  the  altar  saying.  Yea,  ()  Lord 
God,  the  Almighty,  true  and  righteous  are  thy 
judgments. 

8  And  the  fourth  poured  out  his  bowl  upon  the  sun  ; 
and  it  was  given  unto  ^it  to  scorch  men  with  fire. 


a  Matt.  2;J:  34,  35;  ch.  13:  15 b  ch.  11 :18;  18:  20 c  Isa.  49  :  26 d  ch.  15:  3 ech.  13:  10;  14:  10;  19:2..../ch.  8:  12 g  ch. 

9:  17,  18;  14:  18. 1  (Jv,  judge.     Because  they  .  .  .prophets,  thou  hast  given  them  blood  also  to  drink.... i  Or,  Aim. 


of  the  earth."  In  all  these  instances  the 
angelic  forms  introduced  belong  entirely 
to  the  scenery  of  the  vision. — Thou  art 
righteous,  O  Lord,  which  art,  and  wast, 
and  shalt  be,  because  thou  hast  judged 
thus.  A  change  of  reading  is  given  by  West- 
cott  and  Hort,  which  the  revised  version  fol- 
lows in  rendering  "thou  Holy  One,"  in  place 
of  "and  shalt  be,"  while  the  words,  "O 
Lord,"  are  omitted.  The  angel  of  the  waters 
is  in  the  vision  as  if  charged  with  the  guardi- 
anship of  the  rivers  and  fountains.  He  now 
appears  as  recognizing  the  justice  of  the 
visitation    upon   these. 

6.  For  they  have  shed  the  blood  of 
saints  and  prophets,  and  thou  hast  given 
them  blood  to  drink ;  for  they  are  worthy. 
There  is  a  change  of  subject,  here;  "they" 
referring  to  those  who  are  the  human  subjects 
of  the  visitation;  those  who  drink  of  these 
rivers  and  fountains  now  changed  to  blood. 
The  designation  of  them  as  those  who  "poured 
out"  the  blood  of  saints  and  prophets  is  in- 
tentionally broad  and  general,  being  made  to 
include  actual  persecutors,  and  those  who  in 
a  later  time  have  and  manifest  the  persecu- 
ting spirit.  "They  are  worthy  "—they  have 
deserved  that  blood  shall  be  given  them  to 
drink,  since  thej'  have  been  so  willing  to  shed 
the  blood  of  the  righteous.  And  I  heard 
another  out  of  the  altar  say.  Both  the 
Sinaitic  and  the  Alexandrine  manuscripts 
read:  "I  heard  the  altar  saying,"  (^icouo-aroO 
tfu(ria<TTr)piou  Aeyoi'Tos).  Tliis  reading  the  revised 
version  adopts.  The  note  by  Carpenter  is : 
"The  altar  beneath  which  the  souls  of  the 
martyrs  cried,  and  on  which  the  prayers  of  the 
saints  were  offered,  is  represented  as  confirm- 
ing the  testimony  to  the  just  dealings  of  God." 
—Even  so.  Lord  God  Almighty,  true  and 
righteous  are  thy  judgments.  Thus  does 
the  altar  respond  to  the  angel.  "  Over  against 
the  praise  of  Jehovah,"  saj's  Lange,  "the 
voice  from  the  altar  brings  in  view  the 
almighty   sovereignty   of   God,    the   rule   of 


Elohim  Sabaoth  ;  and  instead  of  God's  holi- 
ness it  magnifies,  together  with  the  righteous- 
ness., the  truth  of  the  judgments  of  God." 

8,  9.  The  Fourth  Vial. 

8.  The  fourth  angel  poured  out  his  vial 
upon  the  sun.  We  must  refer  again  to  the 
leighth  chapter,  in  the  twelfth  verse  of  which 
we  find  the  sun  used  in  a  symbolism  akin  to 
that  which  is  seen  here.  Only  in  that  place 
the  sun  is  "smitten,"  its  light  dimmed,  also 
that  of  the  moon  and  the  stars,  so  that  "the 
third  part  of  them  is  darkened."  We  have 
explained  this,  in  our  notes  upon  the  passage, 
as  descriptive  of  that  obscuration  of  the  divine 
light  of  revelation,  and  that  corruption  of 
Christian  teaching  which  brought  on  those 
centuries  of  darkness  during  which  Chris- 
tianity was  experiencing  its  great  ordeal. 
Assuming  that  the  same  symbolism  is  em- 
ployed here,  we  must  especially  notice  that 
while  in  the  former  passage  this  light  is 
dimmed,  it  is  here  made  to  have  a  "scorch- 
ing" quality;  for,  power  was  given  [or, 
^^ it  was  given' ''\  unto  him  [or,  "t7"  the  sun] 
to  scorch  men  with  fire.  It  is  said  (Mai.  4: 2) 
of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  that  upon  them 
who  fear  the  name  of  God  he  shall  arise  "with 
healing  in  his  wings."  Where  revelation  is 
compared  to  the  sun,  allusion  must  in  like 
manner  be  made  to  that  beneficent  action  of 
the  great  luminary  in  which  all  nature  lives 
and  rejoices.  But  that  which  is  the  instru- 
ment of  blessing  may  become  also  the  instru- 
ment of  suffering.  The  rays  of  the  sun,  when 
fierce  and  burning — the^re  element  predomi- 
nating over  the  light  element — may  blast  and 
wither,  instead  of  stimulating  to  growth  and 
clothing  with  beauty.  In  a  like  way  divine 
revelation,  through  the  abuses  of  human 
fanaticism,  foil}-,  and  unbelief,  may,  in  visita- 
tions of  divine  judgment,  and  as  a  punish- 
ment of  the  headiness  tmd  high-mindcdness 
of  men,  "scorch"  as  with  fire.  This  effect 
may  come  in  two  ways — in  that  violent  and 
bitter  unbelief  to  which  men  may  be  driven 


Ch.  XVI.] 


REVELATION. 


223 


9  And  men  were  scorched  with  great  heat,  and  "blas- 
phemed the  name  of  (jod,  which  hath  power  over  these 
plagues:   'and  they  repented  not  ■'to  give  him  glory. 

lu  And  the  filth  angel  poured  out  his  vial  ''upon  the 
seat  of  the  beast ;  'ami  his  kingdom  was  full  of  dark- 
ness; /and  they  Knawod  their  tongues  for  pain, 

11  And  w blasphemed  the  God  of  heaven  hecause  of 
their  pains  and  '■  their  sores,  'and  repented  not  of  their 
deeds. 


9  And  men  were  scorched  with  great  heat :  and  they 
blasphemed  the  name  of  (jod  who  hath  the  power 
over  these  plagues;  and  they  repented  not  to  give 
him  glory. 

10  And  the  fifth  poured  out  his  bowl  upon  the  throne 
of  the  beast;  and  his  kingdom  was  darkened;  and 

11  they  gnawed  their  tongues  for  pain,  and  they  blas- 
phemed the  God  of  heaven  becau.se  of  their  pains  and 
their  sores ;  and  they  repented  not  of  their  works. 


!  ch.  IS:  2 ecb.  9: 


,./ch.  11  :  10 g  ver.  9,  21 A  ver. 


in  their  hatred  of  the  truth,  and  in  the  fanati- 
cal extremes  into  which  those  may  fall  who 
through  misinterpretations  of  the  word  are 
Carried  away  by  mystical  dreams,  or  deceived 
by  outrageous  impostors,  or  become  the  vic- 
tims of  passionate  revolt  against  all  truth  and 
aill  authority.  It  was  said  of  the  Wonderful 
Child  (Lukfl2:34, 35),  that  he  should  be  "for  a 
sign  that  shall  be  spoken  against,  that  the 
thoughts  of  many  hearts  may  be  revealed." 
And,  indeed,  the  Christ,  and  that  revelation 
of  which  he  is  the  centre  and  soul,  have  been 
in  the  world,  and  never  more  than  in  these 
later  centuries,  a  test  of  the  world's  true  moral 
condition.  As  the  Bible  has  been  made  free 
for  the  reading  and  study  of  all,  it  has,  while 
administering  instruction  and  comfort  to  those 
receiving  its  teachings  in  simple  faith,  stirred 
to  a  more  bitter  antagonism  those  who,  re- 
solved not  to  receive  it,  or  allow  its  authority 
as  a  revelation,  have  armed  theinselves  against 
it.  The  very  nature  of  a  revelation,  besides, 
affords  opportunity  for  those  perversions  and 
extravagances  to  which  diseased  imagination 
or  the  spirit  of  imposture  may  incite  men. 
It  opens  brief  and  dim  glimpses  of  those  mys- 
teries of  the  universe  of  which  it  is  so  natural 
for  men  to  covet  a  knowledge,  and  to  covet  it 
the  more  as  they  have  reason  to  know  that  it 
is  forbidden.  Thus  alike  in  the  way  of  un- 
belief and  of  deception,  revelation  may  be 
abused,  and  God's  best  gift  be  turned  to  a 
blighting  curse. 

9.  And  men  were  scorched  with  great 
heat,  and  blasphemed  the  name  of  God. 
The  daring  language  in  which  infidelity  has 
given  utterance  to  its  defiance  of  God,  or  to 
the  denial  of  his  very  existence,  is  a  fact  only 
too  conspicuous  and  well  known.  Not  less 
blasphemous  are  those  impostures  which,  pre- 
tending to  found  themselves  in  the  written 
word,  or  in  some  new  revelation,  have  misled 
so  many.  Indeed,  the  spirit  of  blasphemy  has 
burned  the  more  intensely  as  the  utterance  or 
the  pretense  has  become  more  antagonistic  to 
the  truth.      For  it  is  the  nature  of  truth  to 


avenge  itself  upon  those  who  fight  it  or  per- 
vert it,  by  either  the  hardening  process  which 
renders  the  soul  more  and  more  inaccessible 
to  all  that  is  good,  and  more  and  more  a  prey 
to  all  that  is  bad  ;  or  by  stinging  it  with  fierce 
involuntary  convictions  which  startle  it  at 
times  with  the  dread  consciousness  of  God's 
anger  and  of  overhanging  doom.  Thus  the 
very  revelation  itself  becomes  an  instrument  of 
punishment;  and  the  more  blasphemers  cry 
out  against  him  who  hJath  power  over  these 
plagues,  the  more  they  suft'er. — And  they 
repented  not  to  give  him  glory.  It  is 
neither  in  the  experience  nor  in  the  dread  of 
divine  judgment  that  repentance  has  its  birth. 
10,  11.  The  Fifth  Vial. 

10.  And  the  fifth  angel  poured  out  his 
vial  upon  the  seat  [throne]  of  the  beast. 
By  the  beast  we  always  understand  Anti- 
christ; here  it  is  Antichrist  in  that  manifesta- 
tion of  the  antichristian  spirit  which  belongs 
especiallj'  to  the  last  times.  The  pouring  out 
of  the  vial  upon  his  "throne"  must  indicate 
visitations  which  threaten  his  power  at  its 
centre  and  "seat."  "The  throne  of  the 
beast,"  says  Lange,  "is  the  principal  system 
upon  which  the  power  of  the  ilntichristian 
life  of  the  people  rests."  Events  threatening 
to  the  supremacy,  and  the  very  existence  of 
the  Roman  Antichrist,  the  Papacy,  mu.st  be 
especially  intended. — And  his  kingdom  was 
full  of  darkness.  "  Became fiiled  vjith  dark- 
ness." The  basis  of  the  imagerj'^,  here,  is  the 
ninth  Egyptian  plague  (Ex.  10:21),  the  "dark- 
ness which  might  be  felt."  In  like  manner 
the  "kingdom"  of  Antichrist  is  darkened  at 
the  pouring  out  of  the  fifth  vial.  This  dark- 
ness, however,  is  not  material,  nor  yet  is  it 
moral;  for  the  latter  is  the  permanent  condi- 
tion of  antichristianity,  and  this  now  de- 
scribed is  a  condition  induced  by  a  special 
cause. — They  gnawed  their  tongues  for 
pain.  "They"  means  the  subjects  of  the 
antichristian  kingdom.  The  darkness  is  a 
condition  attended  by  "pain,"  .sufl^ering. 

11.  And  blasphemed  the  God  of  heavea 


224 


KEVELATION. 


[Ch.  XVI. 


because  of  their  pains  and  their  sores, 
and  repented  not  of  their  deeds.  Taking 
the  whole  representaiion  together,  it  seems 
clearly  to  point  to  a  condition  such  as  befalls 
the  adherents  and  supporters  of  some  evil 
power,  when  a  blow  smites  it  at  the  very 
"seat,"  upon  the  very  "throne"  of  its  domin- 
ion, and  sends  consternation  and  confusion 
through  its  whole  extent.  The  "darkness" 
which  follows  is  the  darkness  of  bewilder- 
ment and  fear ;  the  lurid  light  by  which  they 
had  walked  fails  them,  and  they  grope  about 
in  uncertainty  and  in  the  agony  of  those  who 
fear  the  worst  without  being  able  to  see,  at 
all,  when  or  how  it  may  come.  There  will 
be  a  period  in  the  history  of  every  such 
power  when  its  policy  is  clear,  its  purpose 
decided,  its  means  ample,  and  its  right  on- 
ward course  from  strength  to  strength  un- 
wavering. It  may  seem  to  carry  all  before 
it,  and  its  supremacy  seem  sure  and  perma- 
nent. But  there  comes  a  reverse.  A  blow  is 
given  it  that  sends  a  shock  through  its  whole 
extent.  Those  who  liave  built  everything 
upon  their  assurance  of  the  stability  of  this 
power  are  struck  with  consternation.  The 
"pains"  and  "sores,"  distressing  doubt  and 
agonizing  apprehension,  eat  into  their  very 
life.  Yet  they  "repent  not."  Instead  they 
"blaspheme  the  God  of  heaven."  They  cry 
out  against  him  because  it  has  pleased  him 
that  not  the  evil,  but  the  good,  not  the  wicked 
but  the  righteous,  not  the  kingdom  of  Anti- 
christ, but  the  kingdom  of  his  own  "  Beloved 
Son,"  shall  prevail  and  stand.  Is  not  this  an 
epitome  of  antichristian  history  in  these  late 
centuries? 

GENERAL   COMMENTS. 

We  will  say  at  once  that  we  regard  the 
period  of  the  vials  as  that  period  to  which  our 
own  age  belongs.  The  resemblances  seen  in 
the  vision  under  each  vial  to  what  appeared 
under  the  seals  and  the  trumpets,  especially 
the  latter,  are  simply  those  which  occur  often 
in  history,  and  are  among  the  ways  in  which 
history  repeats  itself  The  differences,  as  no- 
ticed in  the  exjjosition,  plainly  indicate  that 
the  scenic  forshadowing  is  not  of  the  smne 
events,  but  of  like  events.  The  same  great 
forces — the  Kingdom  of  God  and  the  king- 
dom of  the  beast — appear  on  the  scene,  but 
in  a  difierent  attitude  as  to  each  other.  The 
seals  and  trumpets  exhibit  them  in  conflict. 
Under  the  vials,  the   Kingdom  of  God  has 


prevailed,  and  the  kingdom  of  the  beast, 
visited  with  judgments,  is  "filled  with  dark- 
ness" and  with  torment.  "  The  kingdom  of 
the  world"  is  no  longer  the  kingdom  of  the 
beast;  it  "is  become  the  Kingdom  of  our 
Lord,  and  of  his  Christ,  and  he  shall  reign." 
The  period,  therefore,  is  one  in  which  Re- 
demption triumphs  and  "the  accuser  of  the 
brethren  is  cast  down." 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  under  what  aspect 
incidents  in  the  moral,  intellectual,  social, 
and  political  history  of  this  period  are  made 
to  appear,  as  represented  on  the  Apocalyptic 
scene.  Those  phenomena  of  modern  life 
which  to  the  contemporary  generation  seem 
so  formidable,  as  if  they  were  signs  that  the 
enemy  prevails,  are  here  seen  as  visitations 
of  judgment.  National  disturbances,  socialis- 
tic frenzies,  the  ravings  of  fanaticism,  ma- 
licious outbursts  of  the  persecuting  spirit,  in- 
fidel blasphemy,  surpassing  even  what  any 
former  age  could  show — these  things  often 
seem  like  signs  that  the  evil  forces  of  the 
universe  are  prevailing,  and  as  if  God  had 
given  over  the  world  to  be  ravaged  by  them. 
In  the  imagery  of  our  chapter,  they  are  seen 
as,  instead,  visitations  of  divine  anger;  the 
writhings  of  evil  under  processes  of  divine 
procedure  in  which  the  final  destruction  is 
hastened  on. 

These  aspects  of  modern  life  to  which  we 
are  referring  are  at  the  same  time  such  in 
their  nature  as  might  be  looked  for  under 
existing  conditions.  The  Reformation,  it- 
self a  revolution,  became  the  parent  of  many 
such.  It  set  free  human  forces,  originated 
tendencies  and  threw  open  doors  of  oppor- 
tunity, in  their  measure  unexampled  in  his- 
tory. These  could  not,  as  things  are  in  this 
world,  all  be  salutary,  in  development  and 
result.  Political  freedom  was  sure  to  be 
abused;  intellectual  freedom,  as  man  is  con- 
stituted, and  with  all  his  bad  passions  in  full 
vigor,  was  sure  to  degenerate  more  or  less  into 
the  riot  of  intellectual  revolt,  insubordina- 
tion, and  wild  uproar;  even  that  most  preci- 
ous gift  of  all,  a  free  Bible,  would  be  most  of 
all  abused,  and,  as  the  sun  of  the  moral 
heavens,  become  to  .some  a  blasting  curse, 
while  to  others  a  beneficence  and  a  blessing. 
It  is  under  circumstances  such  as  these  sup- 
posed, that  the  gospel  becomes,  if  to  some  "a 
savor  of  life  unto  life,"  to  others  "a  savor  of 
death  unto  death." 


CH.  XVI.] 


REVELATION. 


225 


The  symbolism  which  describes  the  waters 
of  the  sea,  and  even  the  rivers  and  fountains, 
as  turned  to  blood,  should  be  especially  no- 
ticed. We  refer  the  reader  again  to  the  in- 
terpretation of  this  symbolism  in  Carpenter 
and  by  Lange,  as  quoted  above.  It  will  be 
seen  that  these  judicious  expositors  under- 
stand by  it  disastrous  changes  in  "the  worldly 
life  of  states  and  nations,"  and  "corrupt  and 
deadly"  conditions  seen  in  "the  tumultuous 
impulses  and  passions  of  the  masses."  Scarce- 
ly any  other  feature  of  secular  life  in  the 
modern  period  characterizes  it  more.  Con- 
spicuous instances  might  easily  be  named; 
such  as  the  fanatic  and  immoral  excesses 
which  dishonored  the  Reformation-movement 
itself;  the  tyrannies  and  oppressions  by  which 
dominant  systems,  during  centuries  of  war, 
misrule,  and  general  misery,  sought  to  repress 
and  kill  every  uprising  of  popular  freedom, 
whether  in  things  secular  or  in  tnings  re- 
ligious; that  hideous  orgie  of  murder  and 
every  imaginable  crime,  the  massacre  of  St. 
Bartholomew,  representative  of  a  long  cata- 
logue of  like  enormities;  the  horrors  of  the 
French  Revolution  ;  and,  as  belonging  to  our 
own  times,  the  socialistic  and  nihilistic  out- 
breaks often  so  formidable.  These,  while 
they  arise  under  the  operation  of  causes  in- 
herent in  the  very  nature  of  existing  systems, 
are  none  the  less  a  visitation  of  God  upon  the 
upholders  of  those  systems,  and  upon  those, 
no  less,  who  imagine  that  wickedness  is  cured 
by  wickedness.  The  "violent  dealing"  in- 
stigated, not  by  a  just  and  intelligent  view  of 
human  right  and  human  duties,  but  by  the 
bad  passions  of  bad  men,  while  it  may  punish 
the  oppressor  against  whom  it  is  aimed,  re- 
turns to  plague  the  inventors  of  it.  More  of 
this  is  no  doubt  yet  to  come  in  the  history  of 
the  modern  world ;  but  whether  present,  past, 
or  yet  future,  it  is  then  rightly  understood 
when  seen  as  the  visitation  of  a .  righteous 
divine  indignation  against  that  deep-seated 
evil  of  the  world  which  displays  itself  in  | 
communistic  revolt  no  less  than  in  the  despot- 
isms by  which  such  revolt  is  instigated — the 
angels  of  the  vials,  pouring  out  "the  wrath 
of  God." 

Much  might  be  said  of  the  later  fortunes  of 
the  Roman  Antichrist,  as  illustrating  one 
part  of  the  exposition  proposed  above.  There 
is  a  striking  contrast  between  the  proud,  con- 
fident, self-assured,  and  domineering  attitude 


of  the  Papacy  during  ages  preceding  the 
Reformation,  and  its  attitude  during  the 
times  which  have  followed  that  great  event. 
Whoever  seeks  to  understand  the  sulyect  will 
be  the  more  convinced  as  he  studies  it  more 
thoroughly,  that  the  shock  given  by  that 
event  to  the  papal  system  was  a  fatal  one,  and 
that  it  has  ever  since  been  felt  as  such.  While 
in  those  countries  of  Europe — England,  Scot- 
land, Germany,  France  —  which  were  the 
representative  nations  of  that  period,  the 
papal  authority  was  in  some  cases  completely 
overthrown  and  in  others  greatly  weakened, 
the  tendency  toward  revolt  S})read  far  and 
wide  among  those  peoples  who  still  acknowl- 
edged the  claims  of  the  Roman  See.  The 
policy  of  the  popes  themselves  was  such  as 
to  foster,  rather  than  repre.ss,  the  tendency 
toward  reformation  principles.  Not  only  in 
the  wars  carried  on  in  Italy  between  the  sev- 
eral Italian  princedoms  and  states,  but  in 
those  upon  the  wider  theatre  of  Europe  as  a 
whole,  they  took  such  a  part  as  to  disgust 
intelligent  men  even  among  their  own  ad- 
herents; while  among  the  Roman  Catholic 
nations  of  Europe  themselves,  the  effect  was 
such  that,  as  Robertson  {Histo7-y  of  Charles 
the  Fifth)  says,  the  "veneration"  once  felt 
"for  their  sacred  character"  became  "almost 
totally  extinct."  A  most  signal  indication 
of  this  was  the  storm  and  sack  of  the  City  of 
Rome  by  the  armj^  of  the  Duke  of  Bourbon — 
a  R(mian  Catholic  prince,  sent  upon  that 
strange  enterprise  by  the  Roman  Catholic 
emperor  Charles,  the  very  pillar  and  support 
of  popery  in  Europe — in  which  such  horrors 
were  enacted  by  a  Roman  Catholic  soldiery, 
at  the  very  centre  of  Roman  Christendom, 
as  historj'  can  scarcely  anywhere  parallel. 
Alike  the  Inquisition  and  the  Order  of  the 
Jesuits  were  expedients  resorted  to  by  the 
hierarchy  to  save  themselves  from  the  de- 
struction that  threatened ;  yet  while  these 
may  have  availed  at  first,  ultimate  reaction 
again.st  them,  on  the  part  of  rulers  and 
peoples,  proved  that  the  damage  they  wrought 
through  the  ferocity  of  the  one  and  the  un- 
principled methods  and  practices  of  the  other, 
was  far  greater  than  the  help  they  gave  in 
the  earlier  times  of  their  history.  The  rapid 
spread  of  Reformation  principles,  even  at  the 
outset,  was  amazing.  In  fortj'-eight  years 
after  Luther,  in  1517,  nailed  his  thesis  to  the 
Wittenberg  church-door,  that  is,   in   1505,  a 


226 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XVL 


'12  And  the  sixth  angel  poured  out  his  vial  "upon  the 
great  river  Euphrates;  'and  the  water  thereof  was 
dried  up,  ''that  the  way  of  the  kiugs  of  the  east  might 
be  prepared. 

la  And  I  saw  three  unclean  ^spirits  like  frogs  covie 
out  of  the  mouth  of  ''the  dragon,  and  out  of  the  mouth 
of  the  beast,  and  out  of  the  mouth  of /the  false  prophet. 


12  And  the  sixth  poured  out  his  bowl  upon  the  great 
river,  the  river  Euphrates;  and  the  water  thereof 
was  dried  up,  that  the  way  might  be  made  ready  for 

1.3  the  kings  that  come  from  the  sunrising.  And  1  saw 
comiiii/  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  dragon,  and  out  of 
the  mouth  of  the  beast,  and  out  of  the  mouth  of  the 
false  prophet,  three  unclean  spirits,  as  it  were  frogs : 


icb.  9:  U b  See  Jer.  50:  38;  51:  36 cisa.  41:2,  25 d  1  John  4:  I,  2,  3 e  ch.  12:  3,  9..../ch.  19:  20;  20:  10. 


Venetian  ambassador,  writing  home  to  his 
government,  was  obliged  to  confess,  "There 
remain  firm  to  the  pope  only  Spain  and  Italy, 
with  some  few  islands,  and  those  countries 
possessed  by  Your  Serenity  in  Dalmatia  and 
Greece";  while  the  papal  rule  in  even  Spain 
and  Italy,  as  we  have  seen,  often  tottered. 
Taking  the  papal  history  of  the  last  three  or 
four  centuries  as  a  whole,  one  sees  in  it  the 
record,  not  of  growth,  but  of  decline.  The 
efforts  made  to  regain  the  lost  supremacy 
have,  in  every  instance,  wrought  ultimate 
damage.  As  always  happens  to  a  decaying 
power,  each  effort  at  self-resuscitation  has 
re-acted  in  still  deeper  decline;  while  the 
consciousness  of  this  has  made  the  triple 
crown  a  crown  of  thorns  to  its  wearer,  and 
has  often  smitten  the  hierarchy  itself  with 
dismay.  As  we  now  write,  what  were  once 
styled  "the  thunders  of  the  Vatican,"  have 
sunk  into  peevish  complaints.  Of  those 
Italian  States  where  the  pope  was  once  owned 
as  a  temporal  ruler,  and  where  he  showed 
how  utterly  bad  a  government  of  priests 
might  be  made,  not  a  rood  is  left  to  him. 
Surrendering  none  of  his  claims  to  both 
spiritual  and  temporal  supremacy,  he  finds 
these  claims  repelled  in  tones  that  penetrate 
even  the  privacy  of  Vatican  seclusion ;  and 
while  vaunting  himself  king  of  kings,  finds 
left  to  him  of  the  old-time  supremacy  not 
even  a  name.  The  vial  has  been  poured  out 
upon  the  throne  of  the  beast. 

ia-16.  The  Sixth  Vial. 

12.  And  the  sixth  angel  poured  out  his 
vial  upon  the  great  river  Euphrates. 
"Upon  the  river,  the  great  Euphrates.'''  In 
our  exposition  of  the  sounding  of  the  sixth 
trumpet  (ch.9:  i.-i,  ii,  e<.  »e?.),  we  have  noticed  the 
symbolism  implied  in  the  mention  of  "the 
river  Euphrates."  That  river,  in  ancient 
times,  separated  the  barbarous  and  hostile 
heathen  nations  of  the  far  East  from  the 
territory  and  people  of  Israel.  It  was  the 
boundary  line  between  that  which  repre- 
sented, on  the  one  side,  the  true  religion  and 
the  true  civilization,  and   that  which   rejjre- 


sented,  on  the  other,  heathenism  and  barba- 
rism. The  former  symbolizes,  in  the  vision 
here  studied,  the  kingdom  of  God  among 
men  ;  the  latter,  all  which  opposes  that  king- 
dom and  seeks  its  overthrow.  As  the 
drying  up  of  the  Euphrates,  in  ancient 
times,  would  have  afforded  easy  passage  for 
armies  of  heathen  enemies  to  come  against 
Israel ;  so  here,  we  trace  an  Apocalyptic 
foreshadowing  of  events  in  which  hindrances 
to  this  inroad  of  evil  shall  be  taken  away. — 
And  the  water  thereof  was  dried  up, 
that  the  way  of  the  kings  of  the  east 
[the  sun-rising]  might  be  prepared.  Some 
have  taken  this  as  indicative  of  events 
auspicious  in  character,  like  the  conversion 
of  the  Jews  to  Christianity  (Herder)  —  an 
interpretation  plainly  impossible,  since  in  no 
sense  could  such  an  event  be  exhibited  under 
the  figure  of  kings  of  the  east  coming  from 
beyond  the  Euphrates,  as  is  here  so  plainly 
implied;  or  as  the  conversion  of  Constantine 
(Grotius),  or  that  of  believing  princes  in  the 
time  of  the  Keformation  (BuUinger  and 
others).  The  events  foreshadowed  are, 
clearly,  not  of  this  nature.  The  vials  are  all 
judgment-vials  ;  vials  of  "the  wrath  of  God." 
The  events  occurring  under  them  are  visita- 
tions of  that  wrath.  The  connection  here, 
also,  implies  this.  What  appears  in  the 
verses  immediately  following  must  be  kept  in 
clo.se  association  with  this  now  in  hand.  B3' 
"the  kings  of  the  east"  must  be  meant 
powers  and  forces  having  a  like  relation 
with  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  God,  to  that 
which  the  heathenism  of  the  far  East  sus- 
tained to  the  kingdom  of  Israel.  They  are 
hostile  powers,  here  termed  "kings,"  as 
symbolizing  the  haughty  spirit  in  which  they 
assert  their  claim  to  sovereignty'  in  the 
thought,  and  faith,  and  life  of  the  world. 

13.  And  I  saw  three  unclean  spirits 
like  frogs  come  out  of  the  mouth  of  the 
dragon,  and  out  of  the  mouth  of  the 
beast,  and  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  false 
prophet.  This  is  the  pivotal  verse  in  the 
wiiole   passage.     By   "the   false   prophet"   is 


Ch.  XVI.] 


REVELATION. 


227 


14  "For  they  are  the  spirits  of  devils,  'working 
miracles,  ivhich  go  forth  unto  the  kings  of  the  earth 
«and  of  the  whole  world,  to  gather  them  to  ''the  battle 
of  that  great  day  of  (iod  Almighty. 

15  "Behold,  1  come  as  a  thief.  Blessed  is  he  that 
watcheth,  and  koepeth  his  garments,  /lest  he  walk 
naked,  and  they  see  his  shame. 

l(i  sAiul  he  gathered  them  together  into  a  place  called 
in  the  Hebrew  tongue  Armageddon. 


14  for  they  are  spirits  of  demons,  working  signs;  that 
go  forth  '  unto  the  kings  of  the  whole  -  world,  to 
gather  them  together  unto  the  war  of  the  great  day 

15  of  (iod,  the  Almighty.  (Behold,  1  come  as  a  thief. 
Blessed  is  he  that  watcheth,  and  keepeth  his  gar- 

16  ments,  lest  he  walk  naked,  and  they  see  his  shame.) 
And  they  gathered  them  together  into  a  place  which 
is  called  in  Hebrew  ^  Har-Magedon. 


alTini.  4:1;  James  3  :  15....5  2  Tliess.  2  :  9  ;  ch.  13:  13,14:  19:  20....C  Luke  2  :  l....d  ch.  17:  14;  19:  19;  20:  8....eMMtt.  24:43; 

IThess.  5:2;  2  Pet.  .H  :  10  ;  ch.  3:  3..../2  Cor.  5:3;  ch.  3:  4,  18 g  ch.  19:  19. 1  Or,  upon 2  Gr.  inhabited  earth 3  Or, 

Ar-Magedon. 


meant  the  second  beast.  In  ch.  13 :  14,  it  is 
said  of  him  that  he  "  deceiveth  them  that 
dwell  on  the  earth  bj"^  reason  of  the  signs 
which  it  was  given  him  to  do  in  the  sight  of  the 
[first]  beast."  To  "deceive"  by  "all  power 
and  signs  and  lying  wonders,  and  with  all 
deceivableness  of  unrighteousness  in  them 
that  perish,"  (2Thess.2: 9),  is  peculiarly  the 
work  of  the  false  prophet.  And  such  as  this 
is  the  second  wild  beast,  Antichrist,  in  its 
development  as  a  corrupt,  oppressive,  and 
persecuting  ecclesiasticism.  The  coming 
forth  of  these  "three  unclean  spirits"  points 
to  a  peculiar  and  formidable  combination 
of  what  is  worst  and  most  to  be  dreaded  in 
the  world  against  all  that  is  good.  Thej' 
represent  three  great  forces  —  the  Satanic, 
denoted  by  the  dragon ;  the  worldly,  in  its 
most  dreaded  aspect,  as  represented  by  those 
world-powers  which  were  most  rapacious  and 
deadly ;  and  the  dehiding,  whether  seen  in 
the  false  Christianity  which  has  deceived 
such  myriads  of  human  souls,  or  the  more 
openly  antichristian  manifestations  which 
grow  out  of  it  in  the  various  forms  of  fanati- 
cism, or  in  those  of  unbelief.  These  spirits 
are  "like  frogs."  They  are  unclean;  the 
clamorous  croaking  of  those  inhabitants  of 
pools  and  marshes  is  no  unworthy  symbol  of 
the  discordances  with  which  the  dragon,  the 
beast,  and  the  false  prophet  fill  the  world. 

14.  For  they  are  the  spirits  of  devils 
[demons],  working  miracles  [sifjns].  Their 
true  nature  is  thus  indicated.  As  we  see 
them  in  history  they  are  human  ;  in  reality — 
in  respect  of  those  spiritual  forces  of  which 
what  is  human  is  but  the  instrument — they 
are  demons. — Which  go  forth  unto  the 
kings  of  the  earth  and  of  the  whole 
world.  The  rendering  of  the  revision  is 
much  to  be  preferred,  while  it  conforms  to 
the  best  Greek  text.  "Kings  of  the  earth 
and  of  the  whole  world,"  seems  like  tautology. 
We  should  also  read,  as  in  the  margin  of  the 


revision,  "go  forth  upon."  These  demonic 
influences  take  possession  of  the  world's 
reigning  forces,  and  thus  engage  them  on 
the  side  of  evil,  in  its  war  against  the  good. — 
To  gather  them  to  the  battle  [the  war] 
of  that  great  day  of  God  Almighty. 
"The  great  day  of  God  the  Almighty,^^  is 
better.  The  word  in  the  Greek  {v6XeiJ.ov),  it  is 
important  to  notice,  means,  not  "battle,"  but 
"war."  It  is  not  any  single  struggle  of  oppos- 
ing forces  that  is  meant,  but  a  protracted  one, 
involving  many  "battles,"  and  lasting,  pos- 
sibly, through  generations,  or  even  centuries. 
The  passage,  therefore,  does  not  describe  any 
single  "battle  of  Armageddon,"  such  as  in- 
terpreters have  often  imagined.  It  points, 
rather,  to  great  historical  conflicts  between 
truth,  righteousness,  and  redemption,  on  one 
side,  and  the  combined  array  of  falsehood, 
iniquity,  and  perdition,  on  the  other— the 
prize  of  the  victor  being  the  world  and  man. 

15.  Behold,  I  come  as  a  thief. 
Blessed  is  he  that  watcheth, and 
keepeth  his  garments,  lest  he  walk 
naked,  and  they  see  his  shame.  This 
verse  is  parenthetical.  It  is  of  the  same 
nature  as  the  warnings  occurring  from  time 
to  time  in  other  parts  of  the  book,  as  in  the 
Epistles  to  the  Seven  Churches,  and  very 
often  in  other  books  of  the  New  Testament. 
.John  seems  here  to  speak  as  personating 
the  Lord  Jesus.  The  "coming  as  a  thief" 
cannot  be  definitely  interpreted,  however,  of 
the  Lord's  second  coming.  In  this  con- 
nection, the  force  of  the  admonition  is  that 
in  a  time  when  the  powers  of  evil  are  thus 
abroad,  it  will  well  become  the  Lord's  people 
to  "watch,"  to  "keep"  themselves  from  all 
defilement,  and  to  have  the  eye  ever  directed 
to  him  who  sees  and  knows  all,  and  will  in 
his  own  times  and  ways  appear,  alike  to 
vindicate  and  to  judge. 

16.  And  he  ^thry]  gathered  them  to- 
gether unto  a  place  called  in  the  Hebrew 


228 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XVI. 


17  And  the  seventh  angel  poured  out  his  vial  into  the 
air;  and  there  came  a  great  voice  out  of  the  temple  of 
heaven,  from  the  throne,  saying,  "It  is  done. 


17     And  the  seventh  poured  out  his  bowl  upon  the  air; 
and  there  came  forth  a  great  voice  out  of  the  temple, 


tongue  Armageddon.  The  form  of  this 
name  given  in  the  revision  is  helpful  to  the 
right  interpretation  of  its  figurative  signifi- 
cance. "Har"  is  ^''mountain."  Har-Ma- 
gedon  is,  therefore,  the  mountain  Magedon, 
or  Megiddo.  "The  mountain,  in  Palestine, 
designates,"  as  Alford  says,  "the  neighbor- 
hood where  the  Canaan itish  kings  were  over- 
thrown by  Barak  (Judges  5 :  i9) ;  an  occasion 
which  gave  rise  to  one  of  the  triumphal  songs 
recorded  in  the  Old  Testament."  Here,  also, 
was  fought  the  battle  between  King  Josiah 
and  Pharaoh-Necho,  of  Egypt;  likewise  a 
battle  between  the  Kings  of  Israel  and  Judah, 
when  Ahaziah  was  slain  by  Jehu.  It  is  "a 
high  table-land  surrounded  by  hills"  (Car- 
penter), and  "was  the  great  battle-field  of 
the  Holy  Land."  The  mountain  is  in  sight 
from  the  spot  where  John  was  born,  and 
where  his  youth  was  spent.  "To  the  fisher- 
man of  the  Lake  of  Galilee,"  Alford  says, 
"  who  would  know  Megiddo  as  he  .saw  its 
background  of  highland  lit  up  by  the  morn- 
ing or  evening  sun  across  the  plain  from  his 
native  hills,  the  name  would,  doubtless,  be  a 
familiar  one."  It  seems  to  appear,  now,  in 
the  scenery  of  the  vision,  as  a  symbol  of  the 
great  impending  "war"  between  the  array 
brought  forward  by  the  dragon,  the  beast, 
and  the  false  prophet,  and  the  "called,  and 
chosen,  and  faithful,"  who  "follow  the  Lamb 
whithersoever hegoeth."  The  subject,  "they" 
of  the  verb,  evidently  means  the  three  unclean 
spirits,  (v.  14). 

17-21.  The  Seventh  Vial. 

17.  And  the  seventh  angel  poured  out 
his  vial  into  [upon']  the  air.  In  a  com- 
mentary upon  this  book  by  Thomas  Bright- 
man,  bearing  date  A.  D.  1615,  we  find  the 
following  note  upon  these  words:  "The  event 
of  this  vial  [the  seventh],  shall  be  common, 
as  which  is  poured  upon  the  aire,  which  com- 
passeth  the  land  and  sea  round  about,  which 
aire  yet  is  not  the  elementary  aire,  that  we 
breath  in;  but  some  other  thing  that  is  signi- 
fied by  this  name,  as  was  usual  in  the  other 
seals.  Now  we  know  that  the  drvill  is  called 
in  Scripture  'the  prince  that  hath  power  over 
the  aire  (Kph- 2;  2).  .  .  Seeing  therefore  the  aire 


belongeth  to  his  jurisdiction,  this  last  vial 
shall  bring  a  most  grievous  Calamity  unto 
the  whole  kingdom  of  the  devill.  The  former 
vials  did  plague  some  members  thereof, 
severally ;  this  shall  destroy  the  whole  body 
of  the  wicked  with  a  common  destruction." 
This  old  writer  seems,  here,  in  his  quaint  fash- 
ion, to  present  correctly  the  significance  of 
the  imagery  employed  in  the  passage  next 
to  be  considered.  The  view  so  given  seems 
preferable  to  that  of  Lange,  who  thinks  "the 
air"  symbolizes  "the  common  life-sphere  of . 
men.  The  anger-vial  in  the  air,  is,  there- 
fore," he  says,  .  .  .  "a  deadly  decomposition 
of  the  spiritual  life-sphere  of  men,  resulting 
in  the  falling  asunder  of  great  communities" 
.  .  .  .  also,  "the  cosmical  decomposition  of 
the  earthly  life-sphere — the  end  of  the  world." 
This  seems  to  us  a  straining  of  the  sense 
beyond  what  it  will  properly  bear.  In  the 
symbolism  of  "the  air,"  considered  with 
reference  to  that  of  "the  earth,"  "the  sea," 
etc.,  there  appears  to  be  an  allusion,  first,  to 
that  atmospheric  environment  which  embraces 
all  earthly  things,  and  secondly  to  the  air 
itself  as  the  element  which  carries  in  its  bosom 
the  forces  which  are  capable  of  such  destruct- 
iveness.  The  "voices,  and  thunders,  and 
lightnings,"  of  which  we  read  in  the  next 
verse,  the  terrific  storm  of  hail  of  which 
mention  is  made  in  the  last  verse  of  the  chap- 
ter, are  atmospheric  phenomena;  while  the 
"earthquake"  occurring  at  the  same  time,  is 
but  the  response  of  the  more  solid  globe  to 
the  awful  war  of  elements  in  the  f;ir  that 
environs  it.  The  whole  picture  exhibits  to 
us  an  elemental  cataclysm  of  the  most  ter- 
rific kind,  such  as  may  fitly  image  forth  the 
utter  and  final  downfall  of  the  kingdom  of 
evil.  And  there  came  a  great  voice  out 
of  the  temple  of  heaven.  The  revised 
version  bore  follows  the  text  of  Westcott  and 
Hort,  ahd  translates,  "a great  voice  out  of  the 
temple,  from  the  throne."  This  is  the  read- 
ing of  the  Alexandrine  manuscript;  the 
Sinaitic  reads,  "a  voice  out  of  the  temple  of 
God."  Westcott  and  Hort,  with  the  revisers, 
evi>:lently  prefer  the  Alexandrine  text.  The 
point  is  not  material,  as  the  sense  is  not  af- 


Ch.  XVI.] 


KEVELATION. 


229 


18  And  "there  were  voices,  and  thunders,  and  light- 
nings; *and  there  was  a  great  earthquake,  ''such  as 
was  not  since  men  were  upon  the  earth,  so  mighty  an 
earthquake,  and  so  great. 

19  And  ■'the  great  city  was  divided  into  three  parts, 
and  the  cities  of  the  nations  fell:  and  great  Babylon 
•came  in  remembrance  before  God,  /to  give  unto"  her 
the  cup  of  the  wine  of  the  fierceness  of  his  wrath. 


18  from  the  throne,  saying.  It  is  done  :  and  there  were 
lightnings,  and  voices,  and  thunders;  and  there  was 
a  great  earthquake,  such  as  was  not  since  'there 
were  men  upon  the  earth,  so  great  an  earthquake,  so 

19  mighty.  And  the  great  city  was  divided  into  three 
parts,  and  the  cities  of  the  nations  fell :  and  Babylon 
the  great  was  remembered  in  the  sight  of  (jod,  to 
give  uulo  her  the  cup  of  the  wine  of  the  fierceness 


8:  5;  11:  19.. 


.b  ch.  11 :  13 c  Dan.  12  :  1 d  oh.  14:  8;  17:  18 e  eh.  18:  5.... /Is 

14:  10. 1  Some  aucieut  authorities  rea<l,  there  tcae  a  man. 


.  51 :  17,  21' ;  Jer.  25  :  15,  16 ;  ch. 


fected  in  either  case,  in  any  important  way, 
save  that  the  words  "from  the  throne,"  make 
it  more  clear  that  the  voice  itself  is  divine. 
The  weight  of  authority  seems  to  favor  this 
reading.  The  voice  is  that  which,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  chapter,  gives  to  the  angels 
their  commission— the  voice  of  God  himself. 
— Saying,  It  is  done.  It  is  not  sufficient  to 
say,  with  Diisterdieck,  that  the  words,  "It  is 
done,"  .simply  announce  the  fulfillment  of 
what  had  been  commanded,  when  the  seven 
angels  were  sent  forth  to  "pour  out  the  vials 
of  the  wrath  of  God  upon  the  etirth."  What 
follows,  in  subsequent  verses,  plainly  shows 
that  the  words  have,  in  fact,  an  import  fiir 
more  solemn  and  fearful.  They  announce 
the  end — the  accomplishment  of  that  which 
God  had  purposed  and  decreed — the  final 
visitation  "of  the  wrath  of  God."  It  does 
not  follow  that  they  indicate  the  end  of  the 
world.  This  may  be  implied ;  but  the  dis- 
tinct and  explicit  announcement  is,  that  the 
kingdom  of  evil,  the  reign  and  warfare  alike, 
of  the  dragon,  the  beast,  and  the  false 
prophet,  have  reached  their  final  close,  so 
that  the  ruin  now  coming  upon  them  will  be 
final  and  forever.  It  is  the  "finishing"  of 
"the  mystery  of  God." 

18.  And  there  were  voices,  and  thun- 
ders, and  lightnings.  The  order  of  the 
words  is  different  from  that  in  the  revised 
Greek  text — "lightnings,  and  voices,  and 
thunders."  Here,  again,  we  find  a  notable 
likeness  to  what  was  seen  under  a  former 
vision.  In  connection  with  the  sounding  of 
the  seventh  trumpet,  there  were  "  lightnings, 
and  voices,  and  thunders";  also  the  "earth- 
quake," of  which  mention  is  made  in  the  con- 
nection here;  and  "great  hail,"  correspond- 
ing to  what  is  likewise  here  more  definitely 
described.  We  have  not,  in  our  exposition  of 
this  chapter,  treated  the  vials  as  synchronous 
with  the  trumpets,  notwithstanding  the  re- 
markable likenesses  between  the  two  visions 
which  from  time  to  time  have  been   pointed 


out.  These  likenesses  are  due  to  the  fact  that 
like  imagery  is  employed  to  indicate  like 
events.  In  each  instance,  however,  while  the 
general  aspect  of  what  transpires  is  similar  in 
the  one  case  to  what  appears  in  the  other,  the 
effect  seen  under  the  vials  is  vastly  more  com- 
plete and  fintil  than  under  the  trumpets.  So 
in  this  present  case,  as  will  appear. — And 
there  was  a  great  earthquake,  such  as 
was  not  since  men  were  upon  the  earth, 
so  mighty  an  earthquake,  and  so  great. 
The  order  of  the  words  in  the  revision  is  more 
exactly  according  to  the  Greek.  Tischendorf 
has  in  his  text  the  singular  number — "since  a 
man  was  upon  the  earth."  We  have  before 
explained  the  symbolism  of  the  earthquake 
as  denoting  great  revolutions,  such  as  shake 
down  sj'stems  and  shatter  great  powers  and 
combinations.  Such  an  one  occurred  at  the 
sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet,  when  at  the 
resurrection  of  the  witnesses  the  kingdom  of 
Antichrist  received  a  shock,  under  which  a 
tenth  part  of  the  city  —  the  great  antichris- 
tian  system — fell.  The  earthquake  here  de- 
scribed is  like  that  one,  but  vastly  more  over- 
whelming. That  denoted  the  weakening  and 
crippling  of  powers  hostile  to  God  and  to  his 
kingdom;  this  denotes  their  rfes<?'?<c^ion.  There 
have  been  many  such  in  history  ;  but  never  one 
so  great,  so  mighty,  as  this.  The  Speaker's 
Commentery  also  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that 
"in  the  case  of  this  earthquake  there  is  no  re- 
pentance, such  as  followed  that  in  ch.  11 :  13." 
19.  And  the  great  city  was  divided  into 
three  parts.  By  the  "city"  in  this  and 
similar  connections  is  meant  concentrated 
and  organized  force  hostile  to  God;  in  "the 
great  city"  the  symbolism  is  emphasized — 
it  is  the  combination  of  all  these  forces — 
Antichrist  in  the  completeness  of  final  de- 
velopment. lL\\e Speaker' s  Commentary snys: 
"The  signification  of  this  verse  seems  to  be 
that,  under-stood  in  the  most  general  manner, 
'the  great  city'  is  the  centre  of  the  world- 
power,  where  'the  throne  of  the  beast'  («r.  lo) 


230 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XVI. 


20  And  "every  island  fled  away,  and  the  mountains 
were  not  found. 

21  'And  there  fell  upon  men  a  great  hail  out  of 
heaven,  cn-ry  stone  about  the  weight  of  a  talent:  and 
nuen  blasphemed  God  because  of ''the  plague  of  the 
hail ;  for  the  plague  thereof  was  exceeding  great. 


20  of  his  wrath.    And  every  island  fled  away,  and  the 

21  mountains  were  not  found.  And  great  hail,  every 
stone  about  the  weight  of  a  talent,  cometh  down  out 
of  heaven  upon  men :  and  men  blasphemed  (iod 
because  of  the  plague  of  the  hail ;  for  the  plague 
thereof  is  exceeding  great. 


och.  6:  U ich.  11:  19 c  ver.  9:  11 d  See  Ex.  9:  23,  24,  25. 


is  always  to  be  found,  whatever  the  forms  of 
evil  may  be  under  which  that  power  is  ex- 
hibited— whether  unbelief,  or  superstition,  or 
sensuality."  In  the  eighteenth  chapter,  as 
well  as  in  subsequent  parts  of  the  same  verse, 
tliis  city  appears  as  Babylon ;  and  the  over- 
throw here  briefly  spoken  of  as  its  falling 
asunder  in  three  parts  is  in  that  chapter  vividly 
exhibited  in  detail.  The  qualifying  word 
"great,"  as  also  in  the  phrase,  "Babylon  the 
Great,"  alludes  to  the  fact  that  what  ancient 
Babylon  was  comparatively  in  miniature,  this 
other  Babylon  is  upon  a  vast  scale.  There 
was  no  lack  of  formidableness  in  the  proto- 
type ;  in  this  more  modern  reproduction,  how- 
ever, the  breadth,  and  fury,  and  effect  of  the 
power  exercised  are  such  as  to  almost  dwarf 
that  of  old  in  the  comparison.  This  great 
city  is  now  by  the  mighty  earthquake  shaken 
to  the  ground.  It  "  was  divided  into  three 
l)arts,"  shattered  and  overthrown.  We  should 
note  that  it  is  not  said,  as  in  former  instances, 
that  "a  third  part"  of  the  city  was  shaken. 
The  whole  city  was  rent  asunder  by  the  earth- 
quake, each  "third  part"  being  visited  with 
overthrow.  "The  three  evil  spirits,"  says 
Carpenter,  "endeavored  to  unite  all  powers 
in  one  grand  assault;  but  there  is  no  natural 
cohesion  among  those  whose  only  bond  is 
hatred  of  the  good.  The  first  convulsion 
shakes  them  to  pieces." — And  the  cities  of 
the  nations  fell.  The  destruction  of  "the 
great  city,"  like  the  effects  following  upon  the 
pouring  out  of  the  fifth  vial  upon  the  throne 
of  the  beast,  indicates  a  visitation  upon  the 
antichristian  power  at  its  centre,  as  when  the 
capital  of  a  great  empire  is  taken  and  de- 
stro^'ed.  As  in  such  a  case,  subordinate 
powers,  dependent  on  that,  share  its  fate,  so 
here.  While  at  its  centre  the  rule  of  Anti- 
christ is  thus  laid  prostrate,  the  effect  spreads 
to  every  subordinate  centre;  the  ruin  reaches 
widely  as  the  empire;  of  evil  itself.  The  vivid, 
impressive  picture  shows  us  the  capital  of  this 
O'npire,  and  every  subordinate  or  confederate 
capital  throughout  the  world,  visited  by  the 
same  earthquake  shock,  and  all,  in  the  .same 
moment,  tumbling  in  ruins.     In  this  way  is 


Apocalyptically  set  forth  the  final  doom  of  all 
ungodliness,  and  all  spiritual  wickedness, 
alike  in  high  places  and  in  low.^And  great 
Babylon  came  in  remembrance  before 
God,  to  give  unto  her  the  cup  of  the  wine 
of  the  fierceness  of  his  wrath.  These 
words  summarize  what  has  gone  before,  and 
anticipate,  in  like  summarj',  the  more  detailed 
description  in  the  two  following  chapters. 

20.  And  every  island  fled  away,  and 
the  mountains  were  not  found.  At  the 
opening  of  the  sixth  seal,  among  other  por- 
tents, the  seer  beholds  "every  mountain  and 
island  moved  out  of  their  places."  Here  we 
must  take  the  language  used,  not  literally, 
as  denoting  actual  physical  occurrences,  but 
figuratively,  in  a  symbolism  resting  on  the 
literal  and  physical.  In  the  vision  under  the 
sixth  seal,  a  great  world-cataclysm  is  re- 
vealed. All  things  seem  rushing  to  destruc- 
tion, as  men  naturally  imagine  them  to  be 
when  vast  revolutions — falling  empires,  pros- 
trated thrones,  mighty  fjrces  brought  in 
collision  and  working  mutual  overthrow — are 
taking  place.  It  is  so,  again,  here.  In  the 
scenery  of  the  vision  the  mountains  and  the 
islands  '  flee  away"  and  "are  not  found." 
"The  islands,  like  the  mountains,"  says 
Hengstenberg,  "denote  kingdoms.  The  dif- 
ference is  merely  this,  that  in  the  designation 
of  kingdoms  by  islands,  respect  is  had  only 
to  their  separate  existence,  while  they  are 
called  mountains,  in  so  far  as  they  exercise 
dominion  over  others." 

21.  And  there  fell  upon  men  a  great 
hail  out  of  heaven,  every  stone  about 
the  weight  of  a  talent.  The  change  in  the 
order  of  the  words,  in  the  revised  version, 
will  be  noticed.  Hail-stones  frequently  appear 
in  Scripture  imagery  as  tokens  of  divine 
visitation.  Examples  are  Isa.  30.  30;  Ezek. 
13:  11;  besides  parallel  passages  in  our  pre.s- 
ent  book.  "  About  the  size  of  a  talent "  lends 
vividness  to  the  imagery.  [The  weight  of  a 
talent  was,  in  round  numbers,  about  fifty 
pounds.  Josephus  (  Wars  of  the  Jews)  v.  6.  3), 
says  that  the  soldiers  of  the  tenth  legion  had 
engines  ^catapults)  which  threw  stones  larger 


Ch.  XVI.] 


REVELATION. 


231 


than  the  rest,  adding  :  "  Now,  the  stones  that  ] 
were  cast  were  of  the  weight  of  a  talent,  and 
were  carried  two  furk)ngs  and  further.  The 
blow  they  gave  was  no  way  to  be  sustained, 
not  only  by  those  that  stood  first  in  the  way, 
but  by  those  that  were  beyond  them  for  a 
great  space."  Whiston's  Translation. — A.  H.] 
By  the  "hail"  must  be  meant  calamities  of 
various  sorts,  "tribulations,"  such  as  our 
Lord  spoke  of  in  Matt.  24:  21,  as  character- 
izing the  last  days.  As  an  historical  pactillel 
or  illustration,  we  may  refer  to  Josh.  10:  1-11, 
where  it  is  told  how  the  Lord  cast  down  great 
stones  from  heaven,  upon  the  enemies  of 
Israel. — And  men  blasphemed  God  be- 
cause of  the  plague  of  the  hail;  for  the 
plague  thereof  was  [  is  ]  exceeding 
great.  "  Blasphemed,''  not  repented.  "The 
proud,  hard  spirit,"  is  the  comment  of  Car- 
penter in  Ellicott,  "which  still  hates  the 
good,  remains.  Thus,  sin  is  its  own  worst 
penalty.  As  an  illustration  of  this  hard,  un- 
subdued spirit,  we  may  call  to  mind  Capaneus 
in  Dante's  Inferno,  and  the  words  in  which 
Virgil  addresses  him : 

'Thou  art  more  punished,  in  that  this  thy  pride 
Lives  yet  uncnienched  ;  no  torment  save  thy  rage 
Were  to  thy  fury  pain  proportioned  full.'  " 

EXCUKSUS  D.— THE  BATTLE  (WAR) 
OF  ARMAGEDDON. 

A  single  word  in  one  part  of  the  passage 
here  studied  (v.  u),  suggests  how  mistaken  is 
the  view  that  bj'  "  the  battle  of  Armageddon  " 
is  meant  one  great  and  decisive  struggle 
between  the  powers  so  often  seen  in  array 
against  each  other  in  the  course  of  this  book. 
The  word,  in  the  Greek  (n-oAe/iioi'),  as  noted 
above,  means  "war."  It  is  not  "battle" 
ifiixv*')-  This  corrected  rendering,  also,  will 
help  toward  a  more  clear  and  accurate  view 
of  what  is  meant  by  "the  war  of  Arma- 
geddon" itself. 

Instances  are  frequent,  in  this  book,  of  the 
use  of  cities,  such  as  Babylon ;  rivers,  as  the 
Euphrates;  and  localities,  as  in  the  present 
case,  to  symbolize  great  spiritual  forces  or 
facts.  Armageddon  is  used  in  the  same  way 
as  Jerusalem,  or  "the  holy  city,"  Euphrates 
and  Babylon.  It  does  not  mean  a  localitj', 
in  any  literal  sense,  whether  the  same  as  that 
mentioned  in  the  sacred  history,  or  some 
other  figuratively  called  by  its  name.  It  is 
the  name  of   a  locality  used   to  make  more 


specific,  vivid,  and  real,  the  Apocalyptic 
scenery  amidst  which  the  great  spiritual 
events  and  effects  foreshadowed  are  repre- 
sented as  taking  place.  Let  us  note  the 
evident  historical  basis  of  the  imagery,  as  so 
employed. 

Gesenius  hypothetically  gives  the  meaning 
of  the  name  "Megiddo"  as  "place  of 
troops."  The  form  "  Magiddon"  {Mngeddo) 
is  the  Greek,  as  used  \>y  the  iSeptuagint,  for 
Megiddo.  The  first  S3'llable  of  the  name 
"Armageddon,"  according  to  the  Hebrew 
spelling,  may  mean  either  "citj',"  or  "moun- 
tain." Schaff  prefers  the  former;  other 
writers,  as  Alford,  the  latter.  Schaff  de- 
scribes it  as  "a  city  of  Manasseh,  situated 
within  the  borders  of  Issachar,  and  formerly 
a  royal  city  of  the  Canaanites,  whose  king 
and  its  neighboring  towns  were  conquered  by 
Joshua.  .  .  .  The  neighboring  stream,  prob- 
ably the  'waters  of  Megiddo,'  is  the  largest 
perennial  tribute  of  the  Kishon.  The  valley, 
or  plain,  of  Megiddo,  also  called  Megiddon, 
was  part  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon."  This 
plain.  Dean  Stanley  {'^Sinni  and  Palestine," 
ch.  ix),  terms  "the  battle-field  of  .lewish 
history  and  the  chief  .scene  of  our  Lord's 
ministrations.  Bounded  as  it  is,"  he  adds, 
"by  the  hills  of  Palestine  on  both  north  and 
south,  it  would  naturally  become  the  arena 
of  war  between  the  lowlanders  who  trusted 
in  their  chariots,  and  the  Israelite  high- 
landers  of  the  neighboring  heights.  To  this 
cause  mainly  it  owes  its  celebrity,  as  the 
battle-field  of  the  world,  which  has,  through 
its  adoption  into  the  language  of  the  Apoca- 
Ij'pse,  passed  into  a  universal  proverb." 
Another  writer  (Clarke)  quoted  in  the 
Speaker^ s  Commentary,  says  of  the  plain  of 
Esdraelon  that  it  "has  been  a  chosen  place 
of  encampment  in  every  contest  carried  on  in 
Palestine  from  the  days  of  Nebuchadnezzar, 
King  of  Assj-ria,  unto  the  disastrous  march  of 
Napoleon  Bonaparte  from  Egypt  into  Syria. 
Jews,  Gentiles,  Saracens,  Christian  Crusaders, 
and  antichristian  Frenchmen,  Egj'ptians, 
Persians,  Druses,  Turks,  and  Arabs,  warriors 
of  every  nation  that  is  under  heaven,  have 
pitched  their  tents  on  the  plain  of  Esdraelon, 
and  have  beheld  the  banners  of  their  nations 
wet  with  the  dews  of  Tabor  and  Hermon." 

Signalized  in  history  in  the  way  here  indi- 
cated, the  significance  of  this  localitj',  as  used 
in  the  symbolism  of  our  book,  is  suflBciently 


232 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XVII. 


CHAPTEK   XVII. 


AND  there  came  "one  of  the  seven  angels  which  had 
the  seven  vials,  and  talked  with  me,  saying  unto 
me.  Come  hither;  ''1  will  shew  untu  thee  the  judgment 
of  'the  great  whore  •'that  sitteth  upon  many  waters : 


1  And  there  came  one  of  the  seven  angels  that  had 
the  seven  bowls,  and  spake  with  me,  saying,  Come 
hither,  1  will  shew  thee  the  judgment  of  the  great 


a  ch.  21:  9 6  ch.  16:  19;  18:  16, 17.  19 c  Nah.  3:4;  ch.  19:  2 d  Jer.  51 :  13  ;  ver.  15. 


clear.  Two  things  in  what  Stanley  says  of  it 
may  be  specially  noted :  that  this  valley,  or 
plain,  is  appropriately  named  as  "Me  battle- 
field of  the  world,''  and  also  that  this  part  of 
Palestine  was  ^' the  chief  scene  of  our  Lords 
ministrations.''  These  two  features  may  be 
treated  as  prominent  in  the  passage  above 
studied.  The  unclean  spirits  out  of  the  mouth 
of  the  dragon,  the  beast,  and  the  false  pro- 
phet, go  forth  to  gather  the  nations  to  war  in 
that  which  is  the  world's  battle-field,  and 
where  also  our  Lord  has  taught  and  worked 
miracles.  In  other  words,  the  scene  of  this 
war  is  the  world  itself,  and  distinctively  the 
Christian  world.  What  has  therefore  been 
termed  "the  battle  of  Armageddon"  is  that 
final  and  climacteric,  and  perhaps  long-con- 
tinued struggle  between  the  Kingdom  of 
God  and  the  kingdom  of  evil  which  is  to 
characterize  the  last  days.  It  is  not  any 
brief  "battle,"  sudden  in  onset  and  soon 
decided.  It  is  a  "war,"  with  Christendom 
as  the  field,  in  which  th'e  forces  on  either  side 
will  be  arrayed  with  a  consciousness  that  the 
struggle  is  final,  and  in  which  there  may  be 
many  campaigns  and  many  vicissitudes  ere 
the  final  issue  comes. 

It  should  be  noted  by  what  means  the  forces 
of  evil  are  brought  together  for  this  "war  of 
Armageddon."  Unclean  spirits,  the  progeny 
of  the  dragon,  the  beast,  and  the  false  pro- 
phet, Satanic,  worldly,  spiritually  deluding, 
will  be  the  instruments  at  work,  the  recruit- 
ing agents  of  evil  for  this  war.  We  have 
here  indications  of  a  most  formidable  com- 
bination. It  may  be  presumed  that  alliances 
will  be  seen,  that  ought  to  appear  impo.ssible, 
in  the  nature  of  things.  Unbelief  may  league 
with  superstition,  license  with  despotism,  the 
church-liatiiig  world  with  the  apostate  church, 
knowledge  with  ignorance,  science  in  its  most 
magnificent  pretension  with  the  stupidity 
ihat  holds  all  .science  in  contempt — the  dra- 
gon-spirit, the  beast-spirit,  and  the  falsehood- 
spirit  effect  alliances  amongst  these,  and  unit- 
ing them  in  a  common  hatred  of  Christianity 
and  Christ,  of  God,  and  the  truth,  and  the 


people  of  God,  "gather  them  together  unto 
the  war  of  the  great  day  of  God,  the  Al- 
mighty." 

How  far  indications  of  such  things  as  we 
here  describe  are  seen  in  aspects  of  the  pres- 
ent time,  we  leave  with  the  observant  and 
thoughtful  reader  to  decide.  It  is  probable 
that  as  yet  only  beginnings  of  it  all  are  ap- 
parent. Enough  is  evident,  however,  to  give 
great  emphasis  and  force  to  the  words  of 
warning  spoken  in  immediate  connection 
with  those  which  announce  the  impending 
struggle:  "Behold,  I  come  as  a  thief  Blessed 
is  he  that  watcheth  [is  wakeful],  and  keepeth 
[preservethj  his  garments,  lest  he  walk  naked, 
and  they  see  his  shame." 


MYSTICAL  BABYLON. 

1-2,  The  Woman  and  the  Beast. 

1.  And  there  came  one  of  the  seven 
angels  which  had  the  seven  vials,  and 
talked  with  me.  What  is  now  to  be  de- 
scribed should,  it  would  appear,  be  regarded 
as  occurring  under  the  seventh  vial.  It  is 
told  in  ver.  19  of  the  last  chapter  how,  among 
other  incidents  connected  with  the  pouring 
out  of  that  vial,  "Babylon  the  Great  was  re- 
membered in  the  sight  of  God,  to  give  unto 
her  the  cup  of  the  wine  of  the  fierceness  of 
his  wrath."  This  judgment  of  Babylon  is 
now  more  fully  set  forth  ;  and  as  preliminary 
to  it,  a  vision  is  introduced  in  which  Babylon 
itself  appears  in  its  my.stical  character. 
There  may  be  a  reason  for  what  Alford 
i  claims,  that  the  angel  who  calls  the  seer's 
attention  to  what  now  appears,  and  explains 
its  significance,  is  the  angel  of  the  seventh 
vial.  That  seems  natural  and  probable,  al- 
though there  is  nothing  to  nnike  it  certain. 
— Come  hither;  I  will  shew  unto  thee  the 
judgment  of  the  great  whore  that  sitteth 
upon  many  waters.  Alford,  Lange,  Car- 
penter, and  the  Speaker' s  Commentary,  trans- 
late "  hither,"  omitting  the  "come."  "The 
reference,"  says  Lange,  "is  not  to  a  local  mo- 
tion, but  to  a  certain  direction  of  the  contem- 


Ch.  XVII.] 


REVELATION. 


233 


2  "With  whom  the  kings  of  the  earth  have  com- 
mitted loruicatiou,  and  'the  inhabitants  of  the  earth 
have  been  wade  drunk  witli  the  wiue  of  her  fornica- 
tion. 


2  harlot  that  sittetli  upon  many  waters;  with  whom 
the  Icings  of  the  earth  committed  fornication,  and 
they  that  dwell  in  the  earth  were   made  drunken 


acb.  18:3....&  Jer.  51:7;  ch.  14:8;  16:3. 


plation  in  accordance  with  the  guidance  of 
the  angel."  In  a  sense  this  may  be  true.  In 
ver.  3,  below,  we  read,  "He  carried  me  away 
in  the  spirit  into  the  wilderness."  There 
was  no  actUiil,  bodily  change  of  place,  but  in 
changes  of  the  vision,  John  saw  before  him  a 
wilderness,  with  the  objects  described  as 
there,  so  that  he  seems  to  himself  to  have 
been  transported  thither.  The  more  full 
discussion  of  the  question  of  identity,  as 
regards  the  sinister  figure  now  to  be  intro- 
duced, belongs  perhaps,  more  properly,  in 
connection  with  subsequent  verses  of  the 
chapter.  It  is  not  a  question  altogether  easy 
of  solution.  Miiny  commentators,  as  Au- 
berlen,  Alford,  Lange,  understand  by  the 
woman  the  church,  in  its  condition  of  spiritual 
aposta.sy.  Lange  connects  what  is  seen  here 
with  what  is  described  in  chap.  12,  where  "we 
behold  a  celestial  woman,  clothed  with  the 
sun,  the  moon  under  her  feet,  adorned  with  a 
garland  of  chosen  stars,  equipped  with  eagle's 
wings."  This  same  woman  he  seems  now  to 
find  changed  to  "a  harlot,  riding  or  sitting 
upon  a  scarlet  beast,  .  .  .  and  thus  herself 
founded  upon  an  antichristian  world-power 
and  bloody  violence."  One  naturally  hesi- 
tates to  adopt  this  view.  "It  is  hard  to  un- 
derstand," siiys  the  Speaker's  Commentary, 
"how  such  a  statement  can  be  made  in  the 
face  of  the  Lord's  promise,  'Lo,  I  am  with 
you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world' 
— especially  hard  is  it,  if  we  remember  how 
the  church  is  described  when  she  appears 
again  after  chapter  twelve,  as  the  'Bride,' 
as  'the  New  Jerusalem'  (ch.  i9:7, 8;  21:2, 9,  lo;  32: 
17;  cr.  John  3:  29)."  The  mind  revolts  at  the 
idea  of  such  a  glorious  being,  as  the  woman 
that  appears  in  chapter  twelve,  changed 
to  a  "mother  of  abominations''  in  chapter 
seventeen,  and  again  in  chapter  nineteen, 
become  the  bride  of  the  Lord,  arrayed  "  in 
fine  linen,  bright  and  pure."  Nor  does  the 
diflRculty  seem  to  be  evaded  by  adopting, 
with  Wordsworth,  the  idea  of  "«  faithless 
church."  It  may  well  be  doubted  if  there  can 
be  such  a  thing  as  a  faithless  church.  There 
may  be  what  .shall  call  itself  a  church, 
yet  in  which  there  shall  be  found  scarcely  a 
remnant  of  what  is  properly  the  character  of 


a  true  church.  Indeed,  the  phrase  itself,  "a 
true  church,"  might  be  said  to  imply  a 
pleonasm.  There  can  surely  be  no  such 
thing  as  a  false  church,  in  tiny  proper  sense 
of  the  phrase;  for  the  very  fact  of  its  false- 
ness proves  that  it  is  no  church  of  Christ  at  all. 
Such  phrases  may  be  conventionally  employed 
as  matters  of  convenience.  But  when,  as  in 
the  exposition  of  our  present  passage,  we  come 
to  an  interpretation  of  sacred  symbols,  under 
which  are  presented  to  us,  on  the  one  side, 
what  is  befitting  in  a  divine  institution  be- 
loved of  its  Founder,  and,  upon  the  other, 
the  combination  of  all  that  is  most  sinister, 
odious,  and  pernicious,  we  surely  must  discard 
conventional  phrases,  and  call  things  by  their 
right  names.  We  decline,  therefore,  to  see  in 
this  woman  on  the  scarlet  beast  the  Mother  of 
the  Man-child.  It  may,  however,  be  intended 
in  this  vision  to  suggest  how,  by  the  harlot, 
that  character  is  assM/werf;  as,  in  fact,  the  anti- 
christian power,  in  its  spiritual  form,  has  ever 
claimed  for  itself,  not  only  the  character  of 
a  church  of  Christ,  but  an  exclusive  possession 
of  this  character.  It  should  be  observed  that 
nowhere  in  the  interpretation  of  the  vision 
given  in  this  chapter  by  the  angel,  is  there  any 
sign  that  this  assunied  character  is  allowed. 
The  closing  verse  of  the  chapter  says:  "The 
woman  which  thou  sawest  is  that  great  city, 
which  reigneth  over  the  kings  of  the  earth." 
The  same  is  implied  in  the  verse  now  before 
us,  where  it  is  said  of  the  harlot  that  she  "sit- 
teth  upon  many  waters."  Almost  the  same 
words  are,  in  Jeremiah  51  :  13,  applied  to 
Babylon:  "O  thou  that  dwellest  upon  many 
waters."  These  waters  are  said,  in  ver.  15  of 
our  chapter,  to  be  "peoples,  and  multitude;--, 
and  nations,  and  tongues."  Of  the  significance 
of  these  descriptive  clauses  we  shall  have 
more  to  say  in  the  proper  place.  For  the 
present,  we  simply  suggest  the  impossibility 
of  viewing  the  woman  in  this  chapter  as  in 
any  sense  either  the  church  of  Christ,  or  a 
church  of  Christ,  but  as  an  impure  and  hate- 
ful power,  assuming  the  name  and  seeking  to 
impose  itself  upon  the  world  as  alone  en- 
titled to  recognition  as  that  church  which  is  to 
God  "as  the  apple  of  his  eye." 
2.  With  whom  the  kings  of  the  earth 


234 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XVII. 


3  So  he  carried  me  away  in  the  spirit  "into  the 
wilderness:  and  I  saw  a  woman  sit  'upon  a  scarlet 
coloured  beast,  lull  of  <^ names  of  blasphemy,  ^having 
seven  heads  and  «ten  horns. 


3  with  the  wine  of  her  fornication.  And  he  carried 
me  away  in  the  Spirit  into  a  wilderness :  and  I 
saw  a  woman  sitting  upon  a  scarlet-coloured  beast, 
1  full   of   names  of   blasphemy,  having  seven  heads 


a  ch.  12:6, 14 &  ch.  12  :  3 c  ch.  13:  1 d  ret'.  9 e  ver.  12. 1  Or,  namtt full  of  blasphemy. 


have  committed  fornication.  It  is  thus 
indicated  how  hetvveen  this  pretender  to  the 
character  and  prerogatives  of  the  church,  and 
"the  kings  of  the  earth" — the  ruling  political 
forces,  whether  monarchical  or  other — a  pecu- 
liar confederacy  exists,  involving  criminality 
of  the  sort  represented  so  often  under  the 
symbol  of  "fornication."  Upon  the  one  hand 
is  here  implied  the  seductiveness  and  craft  of 
the  woman;  upon  the  other,  that  "the  kings 
of  the  earth"  are  fully  caught  in  the  snare 
and  drawn  by  her  into  a  confederacy  with  her  in 
the  criminality  charged.  The  word  here  used 
is  the  one  most  in  keeping  with  the  imagery 
employed — that  of  an  intriguing,  abandoned 
woman,  with  her  debauched  retinue.  Only, 
in  this  case,  it  is  "the  kings  of  the  earth" 
who  are  thus  corrupted,  and  who  lend  them- 
selves as  ministers  of  her  will.  In  the  crime 
charged  there  seems  an  allusion  to  the  Old 
Testament  mode  of  representation  for  that  sin 
of  idolatry  into  which  Israel  so  often  fell. 
Here,  however,  it  implies  simply  what  is  false 
in  religion  and  worship,  and  indicates  that  the 
confederacy  between  the  woman  and  those 
whom  she  so  easily  sways  is  in  behalf  of  such 
a  religion.  It  is,  in  one  sense,  an  apostate 
church,  fallen  into  idolatr}';  while  in  another, 
it  is  a  spurious  ecclesiasticism,  pretending  to 
all  that  is  most  genuine  in  a  church  of  Christ, 
yet  a  pretender,  merely,  and  engaging  the 
ruling  powers  of  the  world  in  support  of  prac- 
tices as  false  and  as  forbidden  as  when  Israel 
fell  into  the  practices  of  the  heathen  nations 
around  them. — And  the  inhabitants  of  the 
earth  have  been  made  drunk  with  the 
wine  of  her  fornication.  Not  simply  the 
rulingpowersof  the  world  are  seduced  by  these 
harlot  sorceries,  but  "they  that  dwell  in  the 
earth" — as  the  revised  version  translat(^s — 
the  masses  of  the  people  no  less.  They  are 
drunken  ;  the  idolatries  into  which  thej'  fall 
become  a  fanaticism  ;  they  are  carried  away 
as  by  a  delirium  of  intoxication.  In  this  way 
the  words  of  the  angel  prepare  the  seer  for 
that  which  is  soon  to  be  disclosed  on  the 
Apocalyptic  scene,  with  such  measure  of  ex- 
planation as  consists  with  the  Apocalyptic 
character  of  the  whole. 


3.  So  he  carried  me  away  in  the  spirit 
into  the  [a]  wilderness.  The  question  here 
arises,  whether  we  shall  translate,  after  both  the 
common  version  and  the  revision,  "in  the 
Spirit" — meaning  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God — 
or  "in  spirit,"  meaning  that  of  John  him- 
self; denoting,  as  Lange  expresses  it,  simply 
"a  change  effected  in  the  ecstatic  direction  of 
the  seer."  A  like  expression  has  occurred, 
and  been  noticed  in  our  exposition,  at  ch. 
1:10,  "I  was  in  the  Spirit"  {iv  ■nvtvit.a.Ti), 
which  we  decided  to  render  with  the  article, 
notwithstanding  the  absence  of  the  article  in 
the  Greek,  consistently  with  what  we  found 
to  be  a  New  Testament  usage.  The  words 
here,  in  the  Greek,  are  the  same  as  in  the 
former  place,  though  the  connection  is  dif- 
ferent. At  ch.  1 :  10,  an  account  is  given  of 
that  peculiar  condition  into  which  the  seer  is 
brought,  and  which  makes  all  that  follows  in 
the  visions  of  the  book  possible  to  him.  In 
21 :  10,  and  in  the  verse  now  studied,  we  are 
simply  informed,  in  this  way,  that  John  be- 
comes conscious  of  a  new  scene  as  passing 
before  him,  with  new  figures  and  incidents 
represented.  Lange  and  Carpenter  prefer, 
apparently  for  this  reason,  to  translate,  simply, 
"in  spirit."  Alford  and  others  render,  as  is 
done  in  the  revision,  "in  the  Spirit."  Even 
if  the  latter  be  preferred,  it  seems  clear  that 
the  emphasis  is  not  now,  as  in  1  :  10,  upon  the 
fact  that  the  mj^sterious  and  sacred  influence 
felt  comes  from  the  divine  Spirit,  but  that 
now,  the  movement  in  John  himself,  so 
caused,  takes  a  new  "direction."  If  with  the 
word  "wilderness"  the  definite  article  were 
used,  the  perhaps  necessary  inference  would 
be  that  this  is  the  wilderness  mentioned  in 
chapter  twelve,  and  into  which  the  woman 
with  the  Man-child  is  borne  on  her  eagle's 
wings.  Even  as  it  is,  we  may  assume  the 
general  reference  to  be  the  same.  The  scene 
ui)on  which  the  woman  in  this  present  chap- 
ter appears,  is  that  of  the  disordered  national 
and  moral  condition  amidst  which  the  Papacy 
arose,  and  which  supplied  to  it  the  oppor- 
tunity it  used  to  such  evil  purpose. — And 
I  saw  a  woman  sit  upon  a  scarlet- 
coloured  beast.     We  have  here,  again,  the 


Ch.  XVIL] 


REVELATION. 


235 


4  And  the  woman  "was  arrayed  in  purple  and  scarlet 
colour,  'and  decked  with  gold  and  precious  stones  and 
pearls,  "^having  a  golden  cup  in  her  hand  ''lull  of 
abominations  and  tilthiuess  ot  her  fornication  : 


4  and  ten  horns.  And  the  woman  was  arrayed  in 
purple  and  scarlet,  and  i decked  with  gold  and 
precious  stone  and  pearls,  having  in  her  hand  a 
golden  cup  full  of  abominations,  -even  the  uucleuu 


I  oh.  18:  fi,  16 ft  Dan.  11 :  38....C  Jer.  51 :  7;  oh.  18  :  6 d  oh.  U:  8. 1  Or.  gilded 2  Ov,  and  of  the  unclean  tilings. 


word  (e-qpCov)  used  in  former  instances.  The 
scarlet  color  may  be  meant  to  intensify  our 
conception  of  the  bloody  and  cruel  nature  of 
the  beast ;  possibly,  also,  it  may  represent 
sovereignty  in  that  world-power  which  the 
beast  symbolizes. — Full  of  names  of  blas- 
phemy, having  seven  heads  and  ten 
horns.  The  beast  is  thus  identified  as  the 
one  described  in  chapter  thirteen.  We  there, 
in  our  exposition,  understand  the  sinister  ap- 
pearance so  indicated,  as  symbolizing  Anti- 
christ in  his  manifestation  as  a  world-power, 
imperial  or  other.  He  is  represented  in  our 
present  passage  as  "full  of  names  of  blas- 
phemy." In  the  former  case  he  is  described 
as  bearing  "upon  his  heads  names  of  blas- 
phemy." Both  alike  make  allusion  to  those 
assumptions  of  divine  prerogative,  or  other 
usurpations,  either  impious  or  tyrannical,  or 
both,  seen  in  all  antichristian  world-powers. 
"There  is  no  form  of  irreligion,"  says  Lange, 
"which  is  not  comprehended  in  the  absolute 
Machiavelism  of  world-monarchy;  religious 
persecution,  contempt  of  humanity,  despot- 
ism over  consciences,  breach  of  promise,  a 
doctrinal  system  of  faithlessness — and  thelike 
— are  some  of  the  first  articles."  Alford's 
comment  is:  "The  names  of  blasphemy, 
which  were  found  before  on  the  heads  of  the 
beast,  have  now  spread  over  its  whole  surface 
[''full  of  names  of  blasphemy'].  As  ridden 
and  guided  by  the  harlot  it  is  tenfold  more 
blasphemous  in  its  titles  and  assumptions  than 
before.  The  heathen  world  had  but  its  Divi 
in  the  Cresars,  as  in  other  deified  men  of  note; 
but  Christendom  has  its  'most  Christian'  and 
'most  faithful'  kings,  such  as  Louis  XIV. 
and  Philip  II.;  its  'Defenders  of  the  Faith,' 
such  as  Charles  II.  and  James  II.;  its  society 
of  unprincipled  intriguers  called  after  the 
name  of  our  Lord,  and  working  Satan's  work, 
^ad  major rm  Dei  glo7-iani' ;  its  holy  oflfice 
of  the  Inquisition,  with  its  dens  of  darkest 
cruelty;  finally  its  'patrimony  of  St.  Peter,' 
and  its  'holy  Roman  Empire';  all  of  them, 
and  many  more,  new  names  of  blasphemy 
with  which  the  woman  has  invested  the  beast. 
Go  where  we  will,  and  look  where  we  will, 


in  Papal  Christendom,  names  of  blasphemy 
meet  us.  The  taverns,  the  shops,  the  titles 
of  men  and  of  places,  the  very  insurance 
badges  on  the  houses,   are  full  of  them." 

4.  And  the  woman  Avas  arrayed  in 
purple  and  scarlet  colour,  and  decked 
with  gold  and  precious  stones  and 
pearls.  The  description  is  of  an  abandoned 
woman,  enriched  with  meretricious  spoil,  and 
arrayed  in  that  deceitful  splendor  in  which 
vanity  delights,  and  under  which  vice  often 
seeks  to  hide  its  shame.  There  is  something 
striking,  and  at  the  same  time  suggestive  in  , 
the  contrast  between  the  gaudy  magnificence 
of  the  woman,  and  the  desolate  and  savage 
aspect  of  the  wilderness  where  she  appears. 
The  latter  represents,  most  fitly,  the  spiritual 
and  moral  desolation  amidst  which  the  Roman 
Babylon  so  long  bore  rule.  In  the  purple  and 
scarlet  color  of  her  array,  as  in  that  of  the 
beast,  there  is,  perhaps,  a  suggestion  of  pre- 
tension to  sovereignty.  The  "gold  and  pre- 
cious stones  and  pearls,"  are  the  trappings  in 
which  usurped  sovereignty  has  ever  delighted, 
and  by  means  of  which  it  has  ever  sought  to 
hide  its  own  essential  poverty  in  all  that  could 
really  entitle  it  to  the  homage  it  claimed; 
they  also,  when  viewed  as  symbolisms  of  the 
antichristian  apostasy,  remind  us  of  the  shows 
and  splendors  in  which  the  Roman  Church, 
so-called,  has  made  itself  so  magnificent,  and 
so  unlike  the  true  Bride  of  the  Lord. — 
Having  a  golden  cup  in  her  hand,  full  of 
abominations  and  (ilthiness  of  her  for- 
nication. There  is  a  notable  similarity, 
here,  to  the  description  of  Babj'lon  in  Jere- 
miah 51:7:  "Babylon  hath  been  a  golden 
cup  in  the  Lord's  hand  that  hath  made  all 
the  earth  drunken  :  the  nations  have  drunken 
of  her  wine;  therefore  the  nations  are  mad." 
By  the  "abomination  and  filthiness"  ("un- 
clean things")  mentioned,  must  be  under- 
stood those  enormities  which  history  discloses 
as  belonging  to  the  character  and  career  of 
mystical  Babylon,  the  so-called  "Church" 
of  Rome,  more  especially  its  idolatries,  its 
false  teaching,  and  the  vices  which  make  it 
in  history  a  spectacle  so  disgusting. 


236 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XVII. 


5  And  upon  her  foreliead  tens  a  name  written, 
"MYSTERY,  BAKYLON  'THE  GREAT,  ^THE 
IKJTHER  OF  HARLOTS  AND  ABOMINATIONS  OF 
THE  EARTH. 

6  And  I  saw ''the  woman  drunken  'wilh  the  blood 
of  the  saints,  and  with  tlie  blood  of  /the  uiartys  of 
Jesus:  and  when  I  saw  her,  I  wondered  with  great 
admiration. 

7  And  the  angel  said  unto  me,  Wherefore  didst  thou 


5  things  of  her  fornication,  and  upon  her  forehead  a 
name  written,  Imystekv,  Babylon  thk  ukkat,  the 

MOTHER    OK    THE    HAKLOTS    ANU    OF    THK   ABOMINA- 

6  TiuMs  OF  THE  EARTH.  Aud  1  saw  the  woman 
drunken  with  the  blood  of  the  saints,  and  with  the 
blood  of  the  ^  martyrs  of  Jesus.    And  when  I  saw 

7  her,  I  wondered  with  a  great  wonder.  Aud  the 
angel  said  unto  uie.  Wherefore  didst  thou  wonder? 
I  will  tell  thee  the  mystery  of  the  woman,  and  of 


i2Thess.  2:  7.  ...6  ch.  11 :  8  ;  U:  8;  16  :  19  •  18:  2,  10, 


:ch.  18:9;  19:2. ...dch.  18:  24. 
i/sttry,  BABYLOU  THE  GREAT 2  Or 


../cb.6:9, 


5.  And  upon  her  forehead  was  a  name 
written.  As  was  customary  witli  harlots 
in  ancient  times.— Mystery,  Babylon  the 
Great,  the  Mother  of  Harlots  and 
Abominations  of  the  Earth.  "Wliether 
to  take  the  word  "mystery,"  as  a  part  of  the 
name,  or  simply  as  a  kind  of  preliminary 
announcement  that  the  name  itself  is  sym- 
bolical and  m3'stical,  does  not  seem  quite 
clear;  probably  the  latter  is  the  more  correct 
view.  What  follows  in  the  name  rests  upon 
the  fact  that  a  great  and  wicked  city  is  a 
centre  of  evil  influence  and  vicious  conta- 
gion; a  "mother  of  abominations."  Not 
only  are  its  fashions  and  social  customs  copied 
in  all  dependent  cities,  and  even  among  the 
rural  populations;  but  its  vices  are  emulated, 
and  what  is  worst  in  its  example,  eagerly  re- 
produced. Upon  this  general  fact,  amply 
illustrated  by  special  cases  in  ancient  as  well 
as  modern  times,  the  symbolism  here  is  made 
to  rest.  Like  such  a  city — like  the  most  con- 
spicuous example  of  such,  "Babylon  the 
Gretit" — is  this  evil  power;  this  Scarlet 
Woman,  impudently  assuming  the  character 
of  the  "Celestial  Woman"  whom  the  dragon 
persecuted,  j'et  in  reality  the  Mother  of  Har- 
lots. The  symbol  is  perfect  as  applied  to  the 
papal  Babylon.  In  the  personal  vileness  of 
so  many  of  her  popes;  in  the  immoralities  of 
her  hierarchy,  fostered  by  institutions  like 
that  of  celibacy  in  the  priesthood,  and  in 
the  policy  which  .she  never  hesitated  to  avow, 
and  which  by  example  and  jirecept  alike  she 
encouraged  and  inspired;  in  her  heartless- 
ness,  her  ambition— in  .short  the  combination, 
so  utterly  unexampled,  of  what  is  worst  in 
mean  hypocrisy,  and  open  iniquity  —  the 
Church  of  Home,  during  centuries,  was  a 
centre  from  which  demoralization  and  in- 
iquity spread  in  all  directions,  reaching  alike 
to  high  places  and  low.  The  characteriza- 
tion implied  in  the  symbol  is  perfect. 

6.  And  I  saw  the  woman  drunken  with 
the   blood  of  the    saints,  and  with   the 


blood  of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus.     The  two 

designating  words,  "saints"  and  "martyrs," 
must  indiciite  the  same  persons,  only  imply- 
ing that  wliile  saints  they  suflered  as  martyrs, 
and  martyrs  of  Jesus,  laying  down  their  lives 
in  fidelity  to  him  and  to  his  cause.  It  is 
among  these  saints  and  martyrs  that  we  ought 
to  look  for  the  church,  not  the  persecuting 
power,  which  in  its  greedy  and  cruel  thirst, 
made  itself  drunken  with  their  blood. — And 
when  I  saw  her,  I  wondered  with  great 
admiration.  ''With  a  great  wonder,"  is 
better.  Many  reasons  have  been  given  for  the 
"wonder"  here  expressed,  as:  Because  so 
powerful  a  beast  carries  a  woman  (Bengel); 
Because  the  Roman  power  remains  still  un- 
broken after  Christ  has  come  (Hengstenberg) ; 
Because  a  change  so  extraordinary  has  passed 
over  the  woman  ( Auberlen  and  Alford) ;  Not 
because  heathen  Rome  persecuted  the  saints, 
but  because  a  Christian  church,  calling  her- 
self "the  Mother  of  Christendom,"  i.  e.,  the 
Church  of  Rome,  should  be  "drunken  with 
the  blood  of  the  saints"  (Wordsworth);  Be- 
cause John  did  not  understand  the  symbolism 
(Ziillig  and  De  Wette).  The  comment  of  Car- 
penter in  Ellicott  is :  "  The  wonder  probably 
rose  from  the  strange  alliance  of  the  woman 
with  the  wild  beast.  It  was  not  wonderful  to 
see  the  vision  of  a  wild  beast  or  monster  deal- 
ing out  death  and  slaughter;  but  to  see  a 
woman  allied  with  the  monster  and  drunken 
with  the  blood  of  the  holy,  provoked  aston- 
ishment." In  other  words,  as  De  Wette  and 
Ziillig  express  it,  John  "did  not  understand 
the  symbol,"  while  its  extraordinary  chiirac- 
ter  made  the  feeling  of  surpri.se  and  amaze- 
ment more  intense.  This  more  simjile  and 
natural  way  of  exjilaining  the  matter  is  justi- 
fied iilso  by  the  fact  that  the  angel,  having 
asked  him  why  he  wondered,  proceeds,  as  if 
addressing  himself  to  the  feeling  thus  ob- 
served, to  expliiin  the  meaning  f>f  the  vision. 
7.  And  the  angel  said  unio  mo.  Where- 
fore didst  thou  wonder  ?  I  will  tell  thee  the 


Ch.  XVII.] 


REVELATION. 


237 


marvel?  I  will  tell  thee  the  mystery  of  the  woman, 
atid  of  the  beast  that  carrieth  her,  which  hath  the  seven 
heads  anil  tin  horns. 

H  The  beast  that  thou  sawest  was,  and  is  not;  and 
"shall  ascend  out  of  the  bottomless  pit,  and  ''go  into 
perdition:  and  they  that  dwell  on  the  earth  "shall 
wonder,  ''whose  names  were  not  written  in  the  book  of 
life  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  when  they  be- 
hold the  beast  that  was,  and  is  not,  and  yet  is. 


the  beast  that  carrieth  her,  which  hath  the  seven 
8  heads  and  the  ten  horns.  The  beast  that  thou 
sawest  was,  and  is  not ;  and  is  about  to  come  uji  out  of 
the  abyss, '  and  to  go  into  perdition.  And  they  that 
dwell  on  the  earth  shall  wonder,  iliey  whose  name 
halh  not  been  written  -in  the  book  of  life  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world,  when  they  behold  the 
beast,  how  that  he  was,  and  is  not,  and  s  shall  come. 


o  oh.  11:  7;  13:  1.... 6  ch.  13  :  10  ;  ver.  11. 


.ccb.  13:3....(ich.  13:  8. 1  Snm< 

....3  iiv.  shall  be  present. 


iicieat  authorities  reail,  and  he  (locth 2  Gr.  on. 


mystery  of  the  woman,  and  of  the  beast 
that  carrieth  her,  which  hath  the  seven 
heads  and  ten  horns.  This  explanation  of 
the  vision  is  exceptional — being  quite  unusual 
in  this  book — and  indicates  alike  how  pro- 
found, and  at  the  same  time  how  important,  is 
its  significance.  And  in  truth,  as  we  shall  see 
presently,  the  woman  on  the  scarlet-colored 
beast  presents  to  view,  in  its  most  formidable 
shape,  a  combination  of  all  the  several  forms 
of  hostility  which  the  church,  the  people,  and 
the  cause  of  God  encounter  in  this  world. 
The  dragon  gave  to  the  beast  his  power  and 
great  authority,  and  of  this  the  color  of  the 
beast  may  be  a  reminder  (the  great  red  dragon 
and  the  scarlet-colored  beast).  The  woman 
represents  the  second  beast,  alike  in  her  char- 
acter as  such  and  as  the  false  prophet.  The 
symbolism  of  the  book,  in  so  far  as  it  relates 
to  forms  of  hostility  encountered  and  over- 
come by  "the  kingdom  of  God  and  of  his 
Christ,"  is  thus  concentrated  in  the  sinister 
vision  now  to  be  explained.  In  this  explana- 
tion, too,  help  is  given  toward  a  better  com- 
prehension of  some  parts  of  what  has  gone 
before,  especially  of  those  visions  where  these 
same  inauspicious  appearances  have  already 
been  seen. 

8-18.  Angelic  Exposition  of  the 
Vision. 

8.  The  beast  that  thou  sawest  was, 
and  is  not;  and  shall  ascend  out  of  the 
bottomless  pit,  and  go  into  perdition. 
The  language  employed  is  remarkable,  and  it 
becomes  more  so  as  we  notice  in  connection 
the  closing  words  of  this  eighth  verse,  where 
it  is  said  of  the  beast  that  he  "was,  and  is 
not,  and  yet  is."  A  like  description  of  him 
occurs  at  ver.  11.  Such  language  can  only  be 
explained  as  characterizing  some  great  his- 
torical power  appearing  and  re-appearing 
under  various  forms,  and  here  spoken  of 
more  with  reference  to  its  manifestations  than 
to  its  essential  being.  If  we  recall  the  period 
at  which  these  visions  were  seen,  and  some  of 


the  events  then  recent,  we  shall,,  perhaps, 
have  a  clearer  view  of  the  meaning  of  the 
enigmatical  words  in  question.  On  an  occa- 
sion then  not  so  very  far  back,  and  which 
John  himself  might  easily  recall,  our  Lord's 
disciples  had  asked  him:  "Wilt  thou  at  this 
time  restore  the  kingdom  to  Israel?"  Had 
thej'  in  fact  understood  all  that  was  really 
imported  in  the  restoration  of  the  kingdom 
to  Israel,  they  might  very  naturally  have 
supposed  that  the  time  for  this  great  event 
had  come.  Their  Lord  himself  had  said:  "I 
saw  Satan  as  lightning  fall  from  heaven."  It 
might  easily  have  seemed  as  if  the  coming  of 
Christ,  the  setting  up  of  his  kingdom,  and 
the  death-blow  given  by  him  to  the  kingdom 
of  Satan,  were  something  final  and  conclu- 
sive; as  if,  especially,  there  was  to  be  no  more 
in  this  world  the  uprising  and  growth  of  such 
hostile  forces  as  in  the  past  had  opposed  them- 
selves to  God's  cause  and  God's  people,  and 
had  made  themselves  so  formidable;  as  if  the 
world-power  itself,  that  evil  energy  which 
had  re-appeared  under  successive  forms  in 
Egypt,  Assyria,  Babylonia,  Medo-Persia, 
Greece,  were  now  to  be  subdued  under  the 
auspicious  dominion  of  him  who,  as  "Prince 
of  the  kings  of  the  earth,"  was  to  "reign  in 
righteousness."  In  some  sense  this  was  true. 
This  power  did  receive  its  death-blow  in  that 
which  was  accomplished  in  the  advent,  the 
ministry,  and  above  all  in  the  death  of  the 
Lord.  Yet,  like  everything  evil  and  nox- 
ious, it  proved  to  be  tenacious  of  life.  The 
angel  could  truly  say  to  John,  that  "it  was 
and  is  not";  the  death  of  Christ  and  the 
setting  up  of  his  kingdom  in  this  world,  had 
so  changed  all  the  conditions  of  this  warfare 
of  the  evil  against  the  good,  as  that  in  truth  it 
existed  no  longer  as  it  had  been.  Yet  the 
hour  of  its  absolute  annihilation  had  not  yet 
struck.  It  was  to  re-appear,  ascending  "out 
of  the  bottomless  pit" — that  is,  with  a  fresh 
infusion  of  the  Satanic  spirit,  more  violent 
and   bloody  than  ever,  as  if  conscious  of  ita 


238 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XVII. 


9  And  "here  is  the  mind  which  hath  wisdom.  'The 
seven  heads  are  seven  mountains,  on  which  the  woman 
sittelh. 

10  And  there  are  seven  kings;  five  are  fallen,  and 
one  is,  and  the  other  is  not  yet  come;  and  when  he 
Cometh,  he  must  continue  a  shtjrt  space. 


9  Here  is  the  i  mind  which  hath  wisdom.    The  seven 

heads  are  seven  mountains,  ou   which  the  woman 

lOsitteth;    and  ^they  are  seven   kings;   the   five  are 

fallen,  the  one  is,  the  other  is  not  yet  come ;  and 

when  he  cometh,  he  must  continue"  a  little  while. 


a  ch.  13:  18 6  ch.  13:  1. 1  Or,  meaning 2  Or,  there  are. 


own  impending  doom.  So  the  words  were 
true,  as  spoken  of  this  dreaded  power,  that 
"it  was,  '  is  not,  and  yet  is";  a  noxious 
principle  of  life  appearing  and  re-appearing 
under  the  form  of  great  political  organisms, 
sometimes  apparently  crushed,  yet  breaking 
out  anew,  as  if  freshly  emerging  from  that 
"bottomless  pit"  whence  it  brings  all  its 
inspiration,  and  back  to  which,  in  the  hour 
of  its  "perdition,"  it  must  finally  go. — And 
they  that  dwell  on  the  earth  shall  won- 
der, whose  names  were  not  written  in 
the  book  of  life  from  the  foundation  ot 
the  world,  when  they  behold  the  beast 
that  was,  and  is  not,  and  yet  is.  The 
revision  makes  the  closing  words :  "and  shall 
come,"  according  to  the  corrected  Greek 
reading.  "And  shall  be  present"  (Trapeo-rai), 
is  an  alternative  rendering  which  Carpenter 
adopts.  The  reading  of  the  Sinaitic  manu- 
script is,  "and  shall  come  [or  be  present] 
again"  (irdKiv  napecrai).  The  hostile  world- 
power  under  its  Roman  form,  had  not  yet,  in 
John's  time,  fully  revealed  itself  in  its  oppo- 
sition to  the  spiritual  Kingdom  of  God.  An 
ordeal  was  before  the  church  more  severe  and 
more  bitter  than  any  in  the  past.  Of  this, 
the  words  here  spoken  were  a  prophecy. 
The  "  wonder"  which,  it  is  said  in  this  verse, 
they  shall  experience  "whose  names  were  not 
written  in  the  book  of  life  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world,"  is  not  altogether  such  as 
Joiin  himself  experiences.  The  words  look 
forward  to  the  time  when  this  beast  and  his 
rider,  seen  now  in  vision,  shall  become  ac- 
tualities in  the  uprising  and  development  of 
combined  political  and  ecclesiastical  powers, 
which  shall  "  wear  out  the  saints  of  the  Most 
High."  The  real  character  of  these  powers 
will  be  no  matter  of  doubt  or  wonder  to  those 
who.se  names  are  written  in  the  book  of  life 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  To  others 
the  needed  "spiritual  discernment"  will  be 
wanting,  and  they  will  fail  to  see,  back  of  all 
exterior  pomps  and  pretensions,  the  real 
wickedness,  or  anticit)ate  the  doom,  of  Anti- 
christ.    It  is  as  when  it  is  said  in  ch.  13:  3: 


"All  the  world  wondered  after  the  beast." 
The  language  in  which  the  Lord's  true  peo- 
ple are  here  characterized  should  be  noticed. 
They  are  the  Lord's  chosen.  Their  names 
were  in  the  book  of  life  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world.  "The  Lord  knoweth,  '  and 
from  eternity  has  known,  "them  that  are  his." 

9.  And  here  is  the  mind  that  hath  wis- 
dom. "And"  should  be  omitted.  "It 
needs,"  says  Carpenter,  "true  wisdom  to 
behold  many  incidents  of  this  world's  history 
and  not  find  stumbling-blocks  in  them.''  — 
The  seven  heads  are  seven  mountains 
on  which  the  woman  sitteth.  We  must 
understand  an  allusion  to  seven-hilled  Rome, 
but  must  be  careful  not  to  limit  the  view  by 
the  literalism  that  would  confine  it  there. 
Mountains  themselves  are  symbols  of  great 
political  powers.  Babylon,  in  Jeremiah  61  : 
25,  is  called  a  "destroying  mountain."  When 
it  is  said  to  "the  men  of  Israel,"  in  Isaiah  41 : 
15,  that  they  shall,  with  "the  threshing  in- 
strument" God  will  give  them,  "thresh  the 
mountains  and  beat  them  small,"  the  symbol- 
ism is  the  same.  And  again  the  s^'inbol  has 
a  double  use,  where  it  is  promised  and  foretold 
how  "the  mountain  of  the  Lord's  house  shall 
be  established  in  the  tops  of  the  mountains," 
implying  the  supremacy  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  over  all  kingdoms.  Thus,  while  there  is 
unquestioned  allusion  to  the  seven  hills  on 
which  Rome  stood,  the  imagery  reaches  be- 
yond these,  and  takes  in  those  great  powers 
of  the  older  world  in  which  had  lived  the 
same  spirit  that  lived  anew  in  the  imperial 
city. 

10.  And  there  are  seven  kings.  The 
corrected  reading,  here,  makes  the  connec- 
tion and  the  meaning  much  more  clear.  We 
.should  read,  as  in  the  revised  version,-  "and 
they  [t/ie  mountains]  are  seven  kings  (koX 
jSoo-iAer?  inrd  fitriv).  The  word  "kings"  is  used, 
as  often,  for  "kingdom."— Five  are  fallen, 
and  one  is,  and  the  other  is  not  yet 
come.  Carpenter,  in  Ellicott,  prefers  to 
translate,  "five  fell."  For  the  identification  of 
these  five  fallen  kingdoms,  we  may  refer  to 


Ch.  XVII.] 


REVELATION. 


239 


11  And  the  beast  that  was,  and  is  not,  even  he  is  the 
eighth,  and  is  of  the  seven,  »and  goeth  into  perdition. 

12  And  'the  ten  horns  which  thou  sawest  are  ten 
kings,  which  have  received  no  kingdom  as  yet;  but  re- 
ceive power  as  kings  one  hour  with  the  beast. 


11  And  the  beast  that  was,  and  is  not,  is  himself  aLso 
an  eighth,  and  is  of  the  seven  ;  and  he  goeth  into 

12  perdition.  And  the  ten  horns  that  thou  sawest  are 
ten  kings,  who  have  received  no  kingdom  as  yet; 
but  they  receive  authority  as  kings,  with  the  beast, 


o  ver.  8 b  Dim.  7  :  20  ;  Zcch.  1 :  18,  19,  21 ;  ch.  13:  1. 


the  exposition  in  chapter  thirteen.  As  there 
suggested,  the  proper  identification  of  the  five 
seems  to  find  them  in  Egypt,  Assyria,  Baby- 
lon, Persia,  and  Greece.  These  had  Allien. 
The  sixth,  Rome,  was  then  still  in  existence ; 
the  other  had  not  yet  come.  This  last  is  the 
seventh  head,  or  mountain,  or  kingdom.  By 
this  •  seventli  head  Alford  understands  "the 
Christian  Empire,  beginning  with  Constan- 
tine";  agreeing  with  Auberlen,  who  in  this 
Christian  Empire  sees  "  Christianity  become 
worldly,"  and  out  of  this  a  new  form  of 
ordeal  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  arising,  taking 
the  form,  ultimately,  of  the  Germaiio-Slav- 
onic  "  kingdom."  Wordsworth  understands 
by  the  seventh  head  the  imperial  power  of 
Germany,  rising  upon  the  ruins  of  that  of 
Italy.  We  refer  again  to  chapter  thirteen, 
and  to  the  passage  there  quoted  from  Carpen- 
ter, who,  understanding  that  upon  this  seventh 
head  the  ten  horns  appear,  decides  that  by 
this  seventh  head  must  be  meant  that  ag- 
gregation of  monarchies  which  followed  in 
Europe  after  the  downfall  of  the  Empire — 
the  Gerinano-Slavonic  "kingdom"  of  Aub- 
erlen. These  monarchies,  as  is  well  known, 
were  supporters  and  instruments  of  the 
Papacy ;  properly,  therefore,  in  the  symbol- 
ism here  represented  as  a  head  of  the  beast  on 
which  the  woman  sits. — And  when  he  Com- 
eth he  must  continue  a  short  space. 
"He,"  that  is,  the  power  represented  by  the 
seventh  head  with  its  ten  horns.  The  "short 
space,"  or  "little  while,"  seems  to  correspond 
with  the  "one  hour"  of  ver.  12. 

11.  And  the  beast  that  was,  and  is  not, 
even  he  is  the  eighth,  and  is  of  the  seven. 
John  does  not  say  that  this  "eighth"  is  "one" 
"of  the  seven."  In  that  case,  consistently 
with  his  uniform  usage,  he  would  have  writ- 
ten, "one  of  the  seven  "  {eU  «  rioy  inrd),  using 
the  Greek  word  for  one  (c's),  as  in  ver.  1  of 
this  chapter,  "one  of  the  angels,"  etc.;  also 
in  clu  5:  5,  "one  of  the  elders";  6:1,  "one 
of  the  seven  seals";  7:  13;  15:  7,  etc.  The 
same  usage  appears  in  other  of  the  writings  of 
John.  In  Mark  14:  60,  a  different  one  ap- 
pears :  "  This  is  one  of  them  (oJto5  ef  airiav  eari-v) ; 

the  word  for  "one"  («is),  being  omitted.     The 


same  appears. in  Luke  22:  58;  Acts  21 :  8;  and 
Col.  4.  9.  Hence  we  see  that  John's  custom 
is  not  the  same  as  that  of  his  fellow-evangel- 
ists ;  so  that,  if  he  had  intended  to  say  that 
"the  eighth"  was  one  of  the  seven  heads  in 
any  sort  of  transformation,  he  would  have  in- 
serted the  "one"  {tU).  This  he  does  not  do. 
We  must,  therefore,  interpret  the  words,  "one 
of  the  seven,"  in  some  other  way.  The  prepo- 
sition "of"  (ex)  must,  it  would  seem,  be  taken 
in  its  sense  of  "out  of,"  or  "  from."  Diister- 
dieck  and  Lange  understand  the  meaning  to 
be  that  "the  eighth  proceeds  from  the  totality 
of  the  seven."  Carpenters  view  is  similar. 
He  gives  the  alternative  translation  "out  of 
the  seven  "  —  "not  one  of  them,  but  one  rising 
out  of  them;  no  eighth  empire  shall  rise,  but 
the  wild  beast,  now  smitten  in  all  the  seven 
heads  of  his  power,  will,  in  the  convulsive 
death-throe,  seem  an  eighth  power,  in  which 
the  ebbing  life  of  all  the  seven  finds  expres- 
sion." A  time  arrives  when  the  seven  distinct 
manifestations  of  hostile  world-power,  in  the 
form  of  great  political  organisms,  mostly  im- 
perial, have  run  their  course.  Antichrist, 
however,  has  not  yet  perished.  That  deadly 
principle,  making  war  upon  the  kingdom  of 
God  during  all  the  ages  of  history,  survives, 
yet  not  in  any  distinct  form  of  organic  mani- 
festation ;  in  a  manifestation,  rather,  repre- 
sentative of  all  former  ones,  in  which  their 
spirit,  with  something  of  their  method,  will 
survive.  And  this  is  the  final  one ;  for  he 
goeth  into  perdition.  It  is  in  this  final 
manifestation  that  Antichrist  meets  his  doom, 
destroj^ed  by  the  breath  of  the  Lord's  mouth 
and  consumed  by  the  brightness  of  his  com- 
ing. This  "eighth,"  therefore,  is  not  a  king- 
dom. It  is  a  manifestation  of  Antichrist 
which  comes  after  the  downfall  of  all  the 
antichristian  kingdoms,  and  is  rather  a  sur- 
vival of  the  antichristian  principle,  violently 
hostile,  as  of  old,  no  less  deadly  in  purpose, 
yet  driven  to  a  use  of  other  weapons  and  to 
the  effecting  of  new  combinations.  Of  the 
significance  of  all  this,  in  the  application  to 
present  times,  we  shall  have  more  to  saj'  in  the 
General  Comments  below. 
1*^.  And  the  ten  horns  which  thou  saw- 


240 


KEVELATION. 


[Ch.  XVII. 


13  These  have  one  mind,  and  shall  give  their  power 
and  strength  unto  the  beast. 

14  ■■  These  shall  make  war  with  the  Lamb,  and  the 
Laml)  shall  overcome  them:  '■for  he  is  Lord  of  lords, 
and  King  of  kings:  «and  they  that  are  with  him  are 
called,  and  chosen,  and  faithful.  ^ 


13  for  one  hour.    These  have  one  mind,  and  they  give 

14  their  power  and  authority  unto  the  beast.  These 
shall  war  against  the  Lamb,  and  the  Lamb  shall  over- 
come them,  for  he  is  Lord  of  lords,  and  King  of 
kings;   and  they  also  shall  overcome  that  are  with 


icU.  16:  14;  19:  19.... 6  Deut.  10:  17;  1  Tim.  6:  15;  ch.  19:  16....C  Jer.  50:44,45;  ch.  14:  4. 


est  are  ten  kings.  By  "kings,"  in  such  a 
connection  as  this,  kingdoms  are  meant. — 
Which  have  received  no  kingdom  as  yet. 

The  kingdoms  themselves  had  not  yet  ap- 
peared in  history. — But  receive  power 
[authority',  eloueriW]  as  kings  one  hour  with 
the  beast.  The  "one  hour"  is  the  same  in 
general  meaning  as  the  "short  space"  in  ver. 
10.  It  is  not  to  be  taken  as  indicative  of  a 
definite  period,  but  only  as  sjMiibolically  set- 
ting forth  that  the  kingdoms  represented  by 
the  ten  horns  will  remain  in  confederacy  with 
the  "beast"  for  only  a  comparatively  short 
period. 

13.  These  have  one  mind,  and  they 
shall  give  [and.  they  gine]  their  power 
[&vvaixLv'\  and  strength  [authority,  (^ovaiav] 
utnto  the  beast.  The  history  in  which  this 
prophecy  finds  its  fulfillment  is  familiar  to  all 
who  have  made  themselves  conversant  with 
events  following  the  breaking  up  of  the  Ro- 
man Empire — the  sixth  head  of  the  beast — 
and  the  formation  of  that  "aggregation  of 
monarchies"  amongst  which,  during  the  mid- 
dle ages,  Europe  was  divided.  There  was  a 
period  in  which,  in  all  these  monarchies,  the 
Papacy  was  supreme,  the  antichristian  prin- 
ciple was  dominant.  They  gave  their  power 
and  authority  to  the  beast — lent  themselves  to 
the  support  of  the  antichristian  usurpation; 
prompted  to  this  partly  by  superstitious  rev- 
erence for  the  spiritual  authority  it  claimed, 
and  partly,  perhaps  chiefly,  by  political  aims 
and  exigencies. 

14.  These  shall  make  war  with  the 
Lamb,  and  the  Lamb  shall  overcome 
them.  The  mention  of  "the  Lamb"  carries 
us  back  to  chapters  fifth  and  sixth,  in  which 
the  glorious  person  of  whom  John  had  al- 
ready written  as  "the  Lamb  of  God  that 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world"  appears 
as  the  one  worthy  to  open  the  sealed  book, 
and  to  serve,  therefore,  as  the  medium  of 
those  august  revelations.  He  bears  here  the 
same  name,  although  now  appearing  not  as 
the  Sufl'ering,  but  as  the  Conquering  One. — 
For  he  is  Lord  of  lords,  and  King  of 
kings.     In  which  fact  we  have  revealed  to 


I  us,  at  once,  the  reason  of  the  victory,  and  the 

j  fatal  error  of  those  who  had  made  war  upon 

him. — And   they   that   are  with    him    are 

called,  and   chosen,   and   faithful.      We 

understand   the  reference,  here,  as   being  to 
events  already  several  times  foreshadowed  in 
previous  visions;   more  especially  to  what  is 
on   record   of  what  must   have  been   to  the 
enemies  of  a  pure  and  true   Christianity   a 
most  unexpected  outcome  of  the  long  struggle 
between  the  Antichrist,  with  the  whole  power 
of  the  world  on  his  side,  and  the  few  "called, 
and  chosen,  and  faithful"  ones  who  stood  for 
the   truth.     It  was,  as  we  have  seen  in  our 
exposition  of  chapter  eleven,  while  the  dead 
bodies  of  the  Witnesses  lay  in  the  streets  of  the 
great,  wicked   city,  and  while  their   enemies 
were  rejoicing  and  sending  presents  to  each 
other,  that  these  slain  Witnesses  arose  from 
the  dead   and  ascended   into  heaven   in   the 
sight  of  them  all;  while  consternation  filled 
the  hearts  of  the  murderers,  and  a  tenth  part 
of  the  city   fell.      The   almost  simultaneous 
revolt  again.st  papal  usurpation,  corruption, 
and   cruelty   in   a  great  part  of  Europe,  at 
what  is  termed  the  Reformation,  was  extra- 
ordinary in  itself,  and  a  great  surprise  to  the 
hierarchj'.     At  the  very  moment  when  that 
tremendous  uprising  was  on  the  point  of  oc- 
curring, it  had  been  claimed  that  "the  whole 
body  of  Christendom  "  had  been  brought  into 
subjection,   and  every  voice  of  even   protest 
silenced.     It  may  be  that  when  he,  who,  as 
"Lord    of   lords   and   King  of  kings"  won 
this  great  victor^',  is  here  spoken  of  as  "the 
Lamb,"   there   is   an    allusion  to  the  gentle, 
quiet,  and  wholly  spiritual  method  of  warfare 
in  which  the  victory  itself  was  won.     Never 
were  the  words  of  the  apostle  more  true  in 
their  application  :   "The  weapons  of  our  war- 
fare   are    not    carnal,    but    mighty    through 
God."     And  the   express  mention,   hefe,   of 
the  "called,  and  chosen,  and  faithful,"  is  a 
recognition   by   the  great   Leader  of  "them 
that   were   with    him"    that    is    wholly    like 
himself,  and  anticipatory  of  that  which  shall 
be  when  the  humblest  of  his  followers  will  be 
"confessed"  before  the  Father,  and  the  holy 


Ch.  XVII.] 


REVELATION. 


241 


15  And  he  saith  unto  me,  "The  waters  which  thou 
sawest,  where  the  whore  sittelh,  'are  peoples,  and  mul- 
titudes, and  nations,  and  tongues. 

16  And  the  ten  horns  which  thou  sawest  upon  the 
beast,  <^these  shall  hate  the  whore,  and  shall  make  her 
desolate  ''and  naked,  and  shall  eat  her  tiesh,  and 
"burn   her  with   tire. 

17  /For  God  hath  put  in  their  hearts  to  fulfil  his 
will,  and  to  agree,  and  give  their  kiugdoni  unto  the 
beast,  f  until  the  words  of  (iod  shall  he  lultilled. 

18  And  the  woman  which  thou  sawest  ''is  that  great 
city,  'which  reigneth  over  the  kings  of  the  earth. 


1.5  him,  called  and  chosen  and  faithful.  And  he 
saith  uuto  me.  The  waters  that  thou  sawest, 
where  the  harlot    sitteth,  are   ix'oplcs,   and   inulti- 

16  tudes,  and  nations,  and  tongues.  And  the  te» 
horns  that  thou  sawest,  and  the  beast,  tlu-se  shall 
hate  the  harlot;  and  shall  make  her  dcsulate  and 
naked,  and  shall  eat   her  tlesh,  and  shall  burn  her 

17  utterly  with  fire.  For  God  did  put  in  their  heart.s 
to  do  his  mind,  and  to  come  to  one  mind,  and  to 
give  their  kingdom  unto  the  beast,  until  the  words 

18  of  God  should  be  accomplished.  And  the  woman 
whom  thou  sawest  is  the  great  city,  which  i  reigneth 
over  the  kings  of  the  earth. 


I  ver.  1 ;  Isa.  8:  7. 


..b  ch.  13:7....cJer.  50:41,42;  ch.l6:  12 
ll....Sch.  10:  7....Ach.  16:  19.... i 


...d  Ezek.  16:  X7U:  ch.  IS:  I6....e  ch.  18:  8. 
ch.  12  :  4. 1  Gr.  hath  a  kingdom. 


../2  Thess.  2: 


angels.  The  translation  in  the  revised  version, 
following  the  corrected  reading  in  the  Greek, 
should  be  noticed:  literally,  "And  they  that 
are  with  him  [shall  overcome],  called,  and 
chosen,  and  faithful." 

15.  And  he  saith  unto  me,  The  waters 
which  thou  sawest,  where  the  whore  sit- 
teth, are  peoples,  and  multitudes,  and 
nations,  and  tongues.  The  woman  sits 
upon  the  beast,  which  however  stands  by  the 
"many  waters."  This  beast,  it  should  be  re- 
membered, is  the  beast  out  of  the  sea,  as  de- 
scribed in  chapter  thirteen.  The  "many 
waters,"  here,  allude  to  this,  and  they  serve 
to  explain  it.  In  each  case  the  symbolism 
suggests  that  confused,  tumultuous,  ever- 
changing  national  and  political  life  of  which 
all  history  is  the  amazing  picture,  and  out  of 
which  oppressive  and  persecuting  monarchies, 
as  well  as  disorderly  democracies,  have  arisen. 

16.  And  the  ten  horns  which  thou  saw- 
est upon  the  beast,  these  shall  hate  the 
where,  and  shall  make  her  desolate  and 
naked,  and  shall  eat  her  flesh,  and  shall 
burn  her  with  fire.  Under  this  intense 
imagerj^  we  have  set  forth  what  is  alreadj'^ 
matter  of  history.  No  one  familiar  with  the 
annals  of  the  period  following  the  Keforma- 
tion  can  fail  to  see  how  accurately  the  predic- 
tion foreshadows  the  event.  How  hollow, 
after  all,  had  be':--!  the  confederacy  between 
the  Papacy  and  the  various  European  powers, 
by  which  its  pretensions  had  been  maintained, 
was  shown  when,  under  the  pressure  of  polit- 
ical interest,  or  the  instigation  of  motives  still 
less  worthy,  a  TIenrj',  a  Francis,  even  a 
Charles,  and  at  an  earlier  date,  a  Henry  the 
Fourth  of  Germany,  with  the  princes  and  re- 
publics of  Italy,  turned  against  the  popes. 
The  word  "hate"  in  the  verse  just  written  is 
not  too  strong  an  expression  of  the  animosities 
which  flamed  up  in  various  parts  of  Europe 
against  the  arrogant  priest,  and  his  hierarchj', 


who  in  their  claims  to  absolute  spiritual  do- 
minion so  often  sought,  at  the  same  time,  to 
override  and  .subjugate  all  prerogatives  of 
monarchs  and  all  rights  of  peoples.  To  what 
an  extent  the  animating  spirit  of  the  frequent 
wars  between  Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic 
powers  was  hatred  of  Rome,  no  student  of  the 
history  of  those  troubled  times  needs  to  be 
told.  The  words,  "shall  burn  her  with  fire" 
— "  utterly  with  fire,"  in  the  revised  version — 
point  to  an  issue  of  these  events  which  is  not 
yet  reached,  but  is  not  far  awa\'. 

17.  For  God  hath  put  in  their  hearts  to 
fulfil  his  will,  and  to  agree,  and  give 
their  kingdom  unto  the  beast,  until  the 
words  of  God  shall  be  fulfilled.  The 
more  accurate  translation  in  the  revised  ver- 
sion should  be  noted.  What  is  now  said  in- 
dicates that  political  organisms  and  forces  are 
not  so  entirely  independent  in  their  action  as 
they  themselves  may  suppose.  Some  doubt 
is  suggested  by  commentators  as  to  whose  will 
is  meant  in  the  words,  "to  fulfil  his  will," 
whether  it  be  the  will  of  the  beast — God  im- 
pelling these  various  powers  "to  unite  and 
serve  the  beast" — or  whether  it  be  God's  will 
that  is  intended.  The  latter  seems  the  more 
correct  view.  The  whole  verse  sets  forth  the 
supremacy  of  God's  purpose  in  the  events 
foreshadowed.  Even  those  who  set  them- 
selves in  array  against  him,  and  join  in  con- 
federacy with  his  enemies,  are  acting  so  in  ac- 
cordance with  that  purpose — although  very 
far  from  doing  it  with  intention — as  that  they 
may  be  said  to  do  his  will,  even  in  this. 
Much  more  do  they  so,  when,  under  the 
promptings  of  whatever  motive,  they  break 
the  bonds  of  their  evil  confederacy,  and  in 
mutual  strife  avenge  unwittingly  the  cause 
of  those  whom  they  have  jointly  made  to 
sufl'er.  In  both  these  waj's  does  God  make 
the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him. 

18.  And  the  woman  which  thou  sawest 


242 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XVIL 


is  that  great  city,  Avhich  reigneth  over 
the   kings   of  the   earth.     The  use  of  the 

present  {reigneth),  here,  seems  to  require  that 
we  shall  understand  by  "the  great  city"  the 
Rome  of  that  day.  It  is  Rome,  however,  as  a 
figure  on  the  Apocalyptic  scene ;  representing 
Babylon  of  old  seated  by  the  "many  waters" 
of  the  Euphrates,  and  itself  the  symbol  of 
another  "Rome,"  in  which  what  was  worst 
in  the  city  by  the  Euphrates  and  the  city  by 
the  Tiber  should  re-appear.  The  antichris- 
tian  power,  in  its  spiritual  form,  is  thus  given 
to  us  under  a  twofold  symbolism.  It  some- 
times appears  as  a  woman,  assuming,  the 
character  of  the  woman  that  bore  the  Man- 
child,  and  whom  the  dragon  persecuted — in 
other  words,  assuming,  even  when  most  cor- 
rupt and  most  unlike  the  Church  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  bought  with  his  blood,  nevertheless  to 
be  that  church,  with  exclusive  right  to  the 
name;  and  sometimes  as  a  city,  a  metropolis, 
central  and  sovereign,  rich  and  populous,  and 
adorned  with  all  that  wealth  and  the  pomps 
of  sovereignty  can  bestow.  The  Woman  is 
the  City,  because  under  each  of  these,  as  a 
symbol,  the  same  evil  power  Apocalyptically 
appears. 

OEXERAL    COMMENTS. 

While  it  h  important  not  to  overstrain  any 
part  of  our  exposition  of  this  chapter,  it  is 
equally  important  that  the  real  significance, 
of  portions  of  it  especially,  shall  not  be 
missed.  The  clue  to  this  exposition  we  find, 
as  has  been  seen,  no  doubt,  partly  in  past, 
and  partly  in  current  history.  If  we  may 
assume  that  these  visions  have  definite  mean- 
ing.s,  at  all,  we  are  justified  in  searching  for 
these  in  that  history  where  fulfilled  prophecy 
finds  ijts  adequate  interpretation,  or  in  those 
current  aspects  of  the  world's  affairs  where 
other  fulfillments  may  appear,  or,  possibly, 
in  those  foreshadowings  of  the  future  which 
the  present  does  sometimes  afford. 

The  more  recent  tendency  of  opinion,  as 
regards  Apocalyptic  exposition,  has  been 
toward  views  which  discredit  the  custom,  so 
long  prevalent  with  writers  upon  this  book, 
of  fixing  upon  historical  persons  and  specific 
historical  events  as  intended  by  the  symbols 
employed  in  the  several  visions.  Were  there 
no  other  ground  for  such  discredit,  this  fact 
alone  were  sufficient,  that  it  has  been  found 
impossiV)]e  to  reach  anytiiing  like  agreement 
as  to  the  actual  persons  or  the  events  which 


shall  be  decided  upon  as  answering  the  condi- 
tions of  the  problems  in  each  case.  It  is 
scarcely  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  each  in- 
dividual writer  has  his  own  distinct  theorj^  as 
to  that  point,  so  that  the  study  of  the  various 
interpretations  proposed  leaves  one  as  if  in  a 
wilderness  of  conflicting  opinion.  And,  in- 
deed, one  can  readily  see  how  this  should  be. 
There  have  been  so  many  personages  in  his- 
tory since  this  book  was  written  like  the 
symbolical  figures  appearing  in  the  visions, 
and  so  many  events  like  what  the  prophecy 
seems  to  foreshadow,  that  very  naturally  the 
selection  made  out  of  these  by  any  writer  is 
determined  just  by  the  impression  he  happens 
to  receive  as  to  the  degree  of  this  likeness,  in 
the  one  case  or  in  the  other.  Is  it  to  be  sup- 
posed that  the  interpretation  of  a  book  like 
this,  filling  a  place  so  peculiar  among  the 
inspired  books,  and  bearing  upon  its  face 
such  evidence  of  vast  significance,  would  be 
left  to  contingencies  such  as  these,  and  indeed 
any  final  judgments  as  to  its  real  meaning  be 
thus  made  practically  impossible? 

It  would  onlj'  confuse  the  reader  to  give  in 
detail  the  various  theories  of  exposition  pro- 
posed for  the  sinister  figures  presented  to 
view  in  this  seventeenth  chapter,  and  which 
are,  so  evidently,  reproductions  of  those  of 
the  thirteenth.  The  Romanist  school  has  its 
explanations,  carefully  devised  to  evade  the 
conclusions  reached  by  Protestant  interpre- 
ters. The  Rationalist  school  has  others,  the 
aim  of  which  is  to  escape  any  inference  of 
even  a  possibly  prophetical  character  in  the 
book  or  in  any  part  of  it.  Those  who  look 
upon  the  whole  representation  as  foreshadow- 
ing things  still  future,  the  "Futurists,"  have 
their  conjectures  as  to  the  identity  of  the 
wild  beast;  while  those  who  take  it  that  the 
prophecy  has  already  reached  its  complete 
fulfillment,  the  "Preterists"  are,  of  course, 
at  the  opposite  extreme.  Hence,  the  variety 
of  interpretations  given  of  the  seven  heads  of 
the  beast;  as,  the  seven  forms  of  Roman 
government,  during  the  whole  history  of  that 
people,  kings,  consuls,  decemvirs,  military 
tribunes,  dictators,  emperors,  and  finally  the 
Gothic  King  Odoacer;  or  seven  emperors, 
selected  as  the  fancy  or  judgment  of  the 
writer  might  dictate.  Some  explain  the 
seven  heads  allegorically,  as  denoting  the 
seven  chief  vices:  pride,  avarice,  luxury, 
gluttony,  envy,  anger,  and  sloth.     Renan,  in 


Ch.  XVII.] 


REVELATION. 


243 


his  "  Antechrist,^'  makes  what  is  called  the 
"Nero-fable"  the  originating  principle  of 
the  whole  book  {^''niere  de  V Apocalypse^ ^). 
This  was  the  rumor  prevalent  at  one  time  in 
the  East,  that  Nero  had  not  been  killed,  as 
was  supposed,  but  that  he  still  lived,  and 
would  in  due  time  return,  recover  the  em- 
pire, and  resume  his  brutal  reign.  "More 
than  one  pretender,"  says  Dean  Merivale, 
"arose  to  claim  his  empire,  and  twenty  years 
later  a  false  Nero  was  protected  by  the  Par- 
thians,  among  whom  he  had  taken  refuge, 
and  only  surrendered  to  the  repeated  and 
vehement  demands  of  the  Roman  govern- 
ment." Upon  this  fable  Eenan  conceives 
that  the  author  of  the  Apocalypse  founded 
his  whole  scheme.  In  his  analysis  of  the 
book,  having  reached  the  seventeenth  chap- 
ter, Renan  says:  "The  beast  is  Nero,  whom 
the  people  have  believed  to  be  dead,  who 
will  return,  but  whose  second  reign  will  be 
ephemeral,  and  end  in  final  overthrow.  The 
seven  heads  have  a  double  meaning;  they 
are  the  seven  hills  upon  which  Rome  is 
seated ;  but  they  are  above  all  seven  em- 
perors— Julius  Csesar,  Augustus,  Tiberius, 
Caligula,  Claudius,  Nero,  Galba.  The  five 
first  are  dead  ;  Galba  is  now  reigning,  but  he 
is  old  and  feeble,  and  will  soon  fall.  The 
sixth,  Nero,  who  is  at  the  same  time  the 
beast  and  one  of  the  seven  kings,  is  not  dead 
really ;  he  will  reign  again,  but  for  a  little 
time;  thus  he  will  be  the  eighth  king,  and 
will  then  perish.  As  to  the  ten  horns,  they 
are  the  proconsuls  and  the  imperial  legates  of 
the  ten  principal  provinces,  who  are  not  real 
kings  .  .  .  These  kings  in  part  are  as  hostile  to 
the  Christians  as  Nero  himself  Representing 
the  interests  of  the  provinces,  they  will  humil- 
iate Rome,  will  take  from  her  the  right  to  dis- 
pose of  the  empire,  a  right  which  until  then 
she  has  enjoyed;  they  will  maltreat  her,  will 
set  her  on  fire,  and  will  divide  amongst  them- 
selves the  relics  of  her  greatness." 

This  is  the  pivot  upon  which  R^nan's 
theory  of  exposition  for  the  Apocalypse  turns. 
It  may  represent  the  rationalistic  method  of 
dealing  with  this  book,  in  general.  How 
necessary  it  becomes  to  cramp  and  belittle 
the  whole  Apocalyptic  scheme,  readers  will 
easily  understand.  The  author  of  the  book 
is  no  longer  the  apostle,  but  a  pseudo-John, 
a  fanatical  Jew,  though  at  the  same  time  a 
Christian,  who  takes  this  method  to  gratify 


the  desire  of  vengeance  excited  by  Roman 
oppression  and  persecution,  alike  of  Jew  and 
of  Christian,  and  to  triumph  over  the  im- 
pending destruction,  signs  of  which  were  al- 
ready seen  in  the  political  confusions  into 
which  the  empire  was  rapidly  falling.  The 
date  of  the  writing  is  fixed  arbitrarily  in  the 
reign  of  Galba.  History  and  criticism  alike 
are  compelled  to  grind  in  the  mill  of  this 
rationalistic  interpretation.  It  is  not  surpris- 
ing, in  the  least,  that  Renan' s  book,  though 
written  with  all  the  splendor  of  style  and  the 
fascinating  art  of  narration  for  which  he  is 
well  known,  has  failed  to  gain  any  currency 
for  his  peculiar  ideas  as  to  the  origin  and 
meaning  of  the  Apocalypse. 

As  we  have  had  occasion  before  to  say,  we 
find  no  system  of  interpretation  for  this  re- 
markable book  suited  to  the  grandeur  of  its 
own  conception  and  plan,  save  that  which 
views  the  long  period  covered  by  it  upon  the 
.same  large  scale,  finding  in  it  the  movement, 
rather,  of  great  forces  and  epochal  events, 
than  of  individuals,  however  conspicuous,  or 
of  .specific  events,  however  striking  in  some 
of  their  aspects  they  may  seem.  Antichrist, 
therefore,  as  has  already  been  shown,  is 
neither  an  individual  nor  any  one  political 
power  or  organism;  it  is  not  even  any  one 
system  hostile  to  the  spiritual  Kingdom  of 
God,  like  Romanism.  It  is  that  deadly  force, 
manifested  in  all  ages,  and  organizing  itself 
under  many  imperial  forms,  by  which  God's 
gracious  purposes  toward  men  have  always 
been  resisted,  and  are  so  still.  It  bears  the 
name  of  Antichrist,  because  for  those  living 
in  the  Christian  age  this  is  the  name  most 
appropriate  for  it,  inasmuch  as,  while  Christ 
himself  represents,  in  his  person  and  in  his 
spiritual  reign,  divine  purposes  of  wisdom  and 
grace,  it  is  especially  against  hhn  that  all  the 
warfare  is  directed.  Whether  by  open  as- 
sault or  by  insidious  undermining,  the  aim  is 
to  overthrow  that  which  he  builds  up,  and 
bring  to  naught  those  human  hopes  which 
most  of  all  centre  in  him.  It  is  the  peculiar 
characteristic  of  this  latest  form  of  the  world- 
old  Antichrist  that  it  pretends  to  be  itself 
that  which  it  has  set  itself  with  such  animosity 
of  purpose  to  destroy.  Hence  the  propriety 
of  the  symbolism  under  which  it  appears  as  a 
woman,  claiming  to  be  the  very  Chuich  of 
God  itself— the  Mother  of  the  Man-child — 
yet  a  woman  debauched  and  debauching,  at- 


244 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XYII. 


tended  by  her  retinue  of  roj'al  lovers,  ar- 
rayed in  harlot  splendors,  and  so  represent- 
ing, even  while  calling  itself  by  the  holiest 
names,  all  that  is  most  corrupting  and  de- 
basing. The  force  that  sustains  this  latest 
and  worst  organic  manifestation  of  the  anti- 
christian  principle  is  the  same  which  has 
lived  on  through  so  many  centuries  and  so 
many  changes.  Its  old-world  manifestations 
have  had  their  day,  and  "are  fallen."  Yet 
the  hostile  and  deadly  force  itself  survives, 
and  in  such  vigor  that  it  carries  this  new 
development  of  the  same  principle  to  even 
greater  achievements  in  wickedness  than  any 
before  recorded.  But  the  hour  of  doom  for 
this  also  is  sure  to  come.  The  powers  once  in 
confederacy  with  the  papal  Antichrist  in  time 
turn  against  it.  The  ten  horns  hate  the  har- 
lot, and  make  her  desolate  and  naked,  and 
eat  her  flesh,  and  burn  her  with  fire.  Yet, 
though  she  perishes,  the  beast  on  which  she 
rides  still  lives  on — the  hostile  antichristian 
jjrinciple  remains,  combining  in  its  mani- 
festations qualities  seen  in  all  the  seven  heads 
of  the  beast,  and  so  appearing  as  an  eighth 
head ;  and  in  this  form  encountering  the  final 
doom — it  "goes  into  perdition." 

We  must  ask  the  reader  to  note  some  of 
those  aspects  of  the  present  period  which 
may  suggest  that  it  is  now  the  time  of  that 
"eighth"  head  of  the  beast  which  is  "of  the 
seven  and  goeth  into  perdition."  (1)  The 
first  is  that  the  prophecy  as  to  the  destruction 
of  the  alliance  between  the  harlot  and  the  ten 
horns  upon  the  seventh  head  of  the  beast,  has 
so  evidently  been  fulfilled.  "We  have  ac- 
cepted, in  our  exposition,  the  view  which 
regards  this  seventh  head  of  the  beast  with  its 
ten  horns  as  that  "aggregation  of  monarch- 
ies" into  which  the  Roman  Empire,  repre- 
sented by  the  sixth  head,  was  broken  up. 
The  histories  of  the  last  three  or  four  centuries 
show  to  us  thi.s  group  of  monarchies,  the 
European  governments — at  first  nearly  all 
confederate  with  the  Papacy  and  supporting 
its  usurpations — one  after  the  other  turning 
against  it,  until  in  the  very  seat  and  centre  of 
its  power,  in  Italy  and  Rome  itself,  the  anni- 
hilating blow  to  its  supremacy  was  given. 
Romanism  survives,  but  the  Papacy  has  been 
reduced  to  driveling  imbecility ;  and  the  in- 
struments of  this  have  been  the  ten  horns  of 
the  beast.  (2)  Opposition  to  a  tru^;  Christian- 
ity survives.     Indeed,  tliere  has  seldom,  per- 


haps never,  been  an  age  in  which  the  assault 
upon  Christianity,  in  its  Scriptural  and  primi- 
tive form,  was  more  determined  or  more 
deadly  than  in  our  own.  Antichrist  himself 
is  not  dead,  nor  inert.  (3)  What  characterizes 
the  age  peculiarly',  in  the  respect  now  no- 
ticed, is  the  variety  of  form  assumed  by  this 
antichristian  hostility.  In  part  it  is  political; 
the  old  forms  of  intolerant  oppression  for 
conscience'  sake,  have  as  yet  by  no  means 
ceased.  In  part,  it  is  hierarchical  and  ritual 
abuse.  Romanism  maintains  all  the  spiritual 
pretensions  of  its  priesthood,  its  mariolatries, 
and  its  ritual  shows;  asserts  still  the  ethcacy 
of  masses,  and  prayers  to  the  saints ;  parades 
still  its  crosses,  its  images,  its  consecrated 
wafers,  its  celibacies,  and  its  indulgences — 
while  in  other  so-called  Christian  communi- 
ties these  are  feebly  copied,  yet  with  enough 
of  their  spirit  to  retain  much  of  their  mis- 
chievousness.  In  part,  the  antichristian  hos- 
tility takes  the  form  of  false  teaching.  The 
"false  prophet"  has  by  no  means  abdicated 
his  functions.  In  truth,  never  was  this  form 
of  the  long  assault  upon  the  Kingdom  of  God 
more  active  or  more  determined  than  now. 
The  defences  of  the  sacred  city  are  tested  at 
every  point.  The  watchmen  on  the  wall  are 
compelled  to  sleepless  vigilance ;  the  soldier 
of  Christ  can  never  for  a  moment,  with  safety, 
"lay  his  armor  by."  Too  often  the  enemy 
is  found  in  the  very  heart  of  the  citadel,  while 
antichristian  doctrine  is  preached  in  Christian 
pulpits,  and  the  dialect  of  Zion  is  heard  upon 
the  lips  of  her  deadliest  foes. 

It  does  not  seem  like  a  suggestion  of  the 
imagination  merely,  to  see  thus,  in  the  as- 
pects of  the  present  time  what  may  explain 
the  symbolism  of  that  eleventh  verse  of  our 
chapter,  to  which  we  are  now  alluding.  If 
we  are  right  in  the  view  we  take,  a  clue  is 
given  us  to  much  in  what  appears  in  current 
historj'  that  tn&y  be  perplexing,  and  even 
alarming.  Doubtless  Antichrist  is  active  still, 
and  commands  a  variety  of  agencies  and 
methods  that  make  his  schemes  peculiarly 
formidable.  But  it  is  for  him  "the  last  time," 
After  all,  what  we  see  is  rather  a  scattering 
than  a  multipljnng  of  force.  One  after  the 
other,  new  forms  of  attack  suflTer  defeat.  No 
one  of  them  succeeds.  The  end  is  foreshad- 
owed in  the  incidents  of  each  passing  day. 
The  Beast  has  reached  his  final  manifestation, 
"and  goeth  into  perdition." 


Ch.  XVIII.] 


REVELATION. 


245 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 


AND  "after  these  things  I  saw  another  angel  come 
down  fi-diu  heaven,  liaving  great  power;  'and  the 
earth  was  lightened  with  his  glory. 

2  And  he  cried  mightily  with  a  strong  voice,  saying, 
'Babylon  the  great  is  I'alleu,  is  fallen,  and -^ is  become 
the  habitation  of  devils,  and  the  hold  of  every  foul 
spirit,  and  « a  cage  of  every  unclean  and  hateful  bird. 


1  After  these  things  I  saw  another  angel  coming 
down  out  of  heaven,  having  great  authority;   and 

2  the  earth  was  lightened  with  his  glory.  And  he 
cried  with  a  mighty  voice,  saying.  Fallen,  fallen  is 
Babylon  the  great,  and  is  become  a  habitation  of 
demons,  and  a  i  hold  of  every  unclean  spirit,  and  a 


och.  17:  1 6  Ezek.  43:  2.. 


e  Isa.  14  :  2J  ;  34:  11 ;  Mark  5:  2.  3. 1  Or,  prison.  .  "• .  u 


THE   FALL   OF   BABYLON. 

1-3.  The  Heraldic  Angel. 

1.  And  after  these  things  I  saw  another 
angel  come  down  from  heaven.  "De- 
scending out  of  heaven,"  will,  perhaps,  best 
express  what  actually  took  place.  The  ex- 
pression, ''another  angel,"  probably  does 
not  refer,  explicitly,  to  any  one  of  the  previ- 
ous angelic  appearances.  Still,  as  we  take 
into  account  the  description  which  follows  in 
this  verse,  we  may  see  a  closer  connection 
with  ch.  10 :  1,  than  with  any  other  place  in 
which  the  angel  is  described  descending  from 
heaven. — Having  great  power,  and  the 
earth  was  lightened  with  his  glory.  The 
word,  here  (efovo-i'a),  indicates  "authority," 
not  "power."  The  translation  in  the  revision 
is  therefore  the  correct  one.  The  force  of  the 
word  {i^ovaia)  appears  to  be  indicated  in  the 
concluding  words  of  the  verse,  "and  the 
earth  was  lightened  with  his  glory."  The 
meaning  seems  to  be  that  this  angelic  form 
was  seen  resplendent  with  a  glory  that  indi- 
cated how  truly  representative  he  was  of  the 
divine  authority  and  purpose;  as,  when  the 
ambassador  of  a  great  king,  anciently,  was 
sent  upon  some  especially  important  mission, 
one  was  chosen  whose  rank  and  personal  dig- 
nity made  him  the  fit  incumbent  of  such  an 
office,  while  his  retinue  and  outfit  were  made 
to  have  a  splendor  suitable  to  the  greatness  of 
the  monarch  by  whom  he  was  sent,  and  the 
importance  of  his  commission.  In  this  case, 
as  in  former  ones,  we  see  no  occasion  for  at- 
tempts to  identify  the  angel,  whether  as  one 
of  the  archangels,  or  as  the  Holy  Spirit,  or 
as  the  Lord  himself  The  angelic  figure  seen, 
like  others  introduced  in  these  visions,  is  S3'm- 
bolical  and  representative.  The  angel  both 
S3-mboIizes  and  represents  the  power  and 
purpose  of  God,  in  respect  to  that  which  is 
here  announced,  viz.  :  the  overthrow  and 
final  destruction  of  mystical  Babylon. 

2.  And  he  cried  mightily,  with  a  strong 


voice.  The  word  "mightily"  should  be 
omitted.  It  is  not  in  the  Greek  text.  "He 
cried  with  a  mighty  voice,"  is  the  proper  ren- 
dering.—Saying,  Babylon  the  great  is 
fallen,  is  fallen.  Tiie  closing  verse  of  the 
previous  chapter  is:  "And  the  woman  which 
thou  sawest  is  that  great  city,  which  reigneth 
over  the  kings  of  the  earth."  With  this 
guide  to  the  interpretation  of  the  symbol,  it 
seems  surprising  that  any  expositors  should 
have  fiiiled  to  identify  the  city  in  this  chapter 
as  the  woman  in  the  previous  one.  And  since 
among  Protestant  communities  it  is  so  gene- 
rally agreed  that  the  woman  must  be  under- 
stood as  Papal  Rome,  the  conclusion  seems 
clear  that  the  symbolism  of  the  city  must  be 
understood  in  the  same  way.  It  cannot, 
therefore,  be  imperial  Rome  (Bossuet,  Hengs- 
tenberg),  nor  Rome  simply  as  a  city  (Bengel), 
nor  in  the  more  general  and  rather  vague 
view,  the  "world-city,"  as  the  Speaker's 
Commentary  seems  to  interpret.  The  picture 
in  this  chapter  is  so  perfectly-  descriptive  of 
the  overthrow  and  ruin  of  an  actual  citj', 
that  writers  upon  it  seem  to  have  sometimes 
been  misled  thereby,  and  to  have  thus  fallen 
into  a  literal  method  of  interpretation  which 
cannot  be  justified,  either  by  the  tenor  of  the 
passage  itself,  or  by  the  general  usage  of  the 
hook.  The  double  form  of  the  symbolism,  it 
is  true,  might  be  suppo.sed  to  offer  critical 
difficulties.  The  same  ]Jower  appears  in  chap- 
ter seventeen  as  a  woman,  and  in  chapter 
eighteen  as  a  city.  The  two  are  after  all 
discriminated,  and  there  is  no  real  confusion. 
The  allegory  in  each  case  is  consistently 
maintained,  while  it  is  in  nowise  amiss  that 
what  in  one  of  these  vivid  pictures  is  a  citj-, 
should,  in  a  change  of  representation,  appear 
in  the  other  as  a  woman.  That  which  we 
find  in  this  present  chapter  is  certainly  very 
striking,  alike  in  conception  and  in  delinea- 
tion. Under  the  sj'mbol  of  a  cit.y,  such  as 
Babylon  of  old  was,  a  pretentious,  worldly, 


246 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XVIII. 


3  For  all  nations  "have  drunk  of  the  wine  of  the 
■wrath  of  her  fornication,  and  the  kings  of  the  earth 
liave  couiniitted  fornication  with  her,  'and  tlie  uier- 
chauts  of  the  earth  are  waxed  rich  through  the  ahund- 
auce  of  her  delicacies. 


31  hold  of  every  unclean  and  hateful  bird.  For  ^by 
sthe  wine  of  the  wrath  of  her  fornication  all  the 
nations  are  fallen;  and  the  kings  of  the  earth  com- 
mitted fornication  with  her,  and  the  merchants  of 
the  earth  waxed  rich  by  the  power  of  her  *  wanton- 
ness. 


a  cb.  14:  8;  17  :  2 6  ver.  11  :  15;  Isa.  47  :  15. 1  Or. prison 2  Snnie  niithorities  read.  0/ the  1 

uQcieut  authorities  ouiit,  the  zvine  of 4  Or,  luxury. 


have  drunk 3  Some 


corrupt,  domineering,  and  oppressive  system 
of  false  religion  is  represented  in  its  spirit,  its 
forms,  the  means  used  to  ensure  its  suprem- 
acy, the  deceitful  glory  that  crowns  it,  and 
the  awful  ruin  that  overtakes  it  in  the  end. 
The  imagery  is  perfect  in  its  every  detail, 
each  stroke  of  the  rapid  pencil  in  harmony 
with  the  ideal.  Nor,  when  we  bear  in  mind 
the  grand  scope  of  the  book  as  a  whole,  and 
how  its  real  subject  is  nothing  less  than  the 
beginning,  and  growth,  and  struggle,  and 
ordeal,  and  final  triumph  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  among  men,  can  we  bring  ourselves  to 
believe  that  this  graphic  picture  of  consum- 
mating events  can  relate  to  anything  less  than 
the  downfall  of  that  power,  in  which  anti- 
christian  opposition  to  God's  kingdom  had  its 
latest  and  most  formidable  organic  manifesta- 
tion? AVe  understand  by  Babylon,  therefore, 
the  Rome  of  the  Papacy,  here  depicted  under 
the  figure  of  a  great  city,  the  centre  alike  of 
political  and  commercial  supremacy;  once, 
like  Babylon,  declaring:  "I shall  be  a  lady  for- 
ever" (isu. 47:7),  or  as  in  ver.  7  of  this  chapter: 
"  I  sit  a  queen  and  am  no  widow,  and  shall  see 
no  sorrow  ;  "  yet  now  brought  to  the  ground, 
a  ruin,  a  desolation,  and  a  lesson  forever.  The 
verb,  in  the  words  written  above:  "Fallen, 
fallen  is  Babylon  the  great"  (the Greek  aorist), 
denotes,  says  Burger,  "the  certainty  of  what 
is  to  happen."  The  seer,  although  the  actual 
event  lies  far  down  in  the  future  from  his 
own  time,  beholds  it,  nevertheless,  as  already 
accomplirshed. — And  is  become  the  [a] 
habitation  of  devils  ["demons' ^^.  The 
conception  is  that  of  a  city  lying  in  utter 
ruin  and  desolation,  without  human  inhabi- 
tants, yet  the  befitting  resort  of  those  demons 
that  delight  in  calamity,  and  in  those  waste 
and  desolate  places  which  are  most  like  their 
own  dismal  habitation. — And  the  hold  of 
every  foul  spirit.  The  Greek  word  (<^uAa-c^) 
literally  means  "prison."  Some  writers,  like 
De  Wette  and  Ilengstenberg,  understand  by 
it  a  place  of  banishment;  others,  a  place  of 
custody.  The  same  word  occurs  in  the  next 
.succeeding  clause,  a  cage  of  unclean  birds. 


The  revision  translates  "hold,"  as  will  be  seen, 
in  each  place.  In  some  sense  it  is  a  "cage," 
a  "prison,"  alike  to  the  unclean  birds  and 
the  unclean  spirits;  since  it  is  the  place  to 
which  both  alike  are  conceived  as  driven 
from  the  abodes  of  men,  and  from  every  scene 
in  which  some  element  of  purity  and  felicity 
might  remain.  As  the  unclean  bird  avoids 
the  human  habitations,  and  is  found,  rather, 
in  localities  where  corruption  and  all  hideous 
things  abound,  so  the  unclean  spirits  may  be 
supposed  to  haunt  the  same;  as  if  driven  to 
and  imprisoned  by  that  element  which  is  most 
in  keeping  with  their  own  uncleanness.  The 
imagery  here,  then,  reproduces  that  graphic 
passage  in  Isaiah  (i3;2i),  where,  of  the  great 
and  wicked  city  by  the  Euphrates,  it  is  said: 
"Wild  beasts  of  the  desert  shall  lie  there; 
and  their  houses  shall  be  full  of  doleful 
creatures;  and  owls  shall  dwell  there,  and 
satyrs  [some,  as  Stuart,  understand  these  as 
here,  'demons']  shall  dance  there." 

3.  For  all  nations  have  drunk  of  the 
wine  of  the  wrath  of  her  fornication, 
and  the  kings  of  the  earth  have  com- 
mitted fornication  with  her.  This  is  al- 
most a  repetition  of  17  :  2,  and  clearly  suggests 
the  identity  of  the  city  in  this  chapter  with 
the  woman  in  that.  The  change  of  reading 
indicated  by  the  translators  in  the  revised 
version  will  be  noticed.  Tischendorf,  in  his 
eighth  edition,  expresses  doubt  as  to  whether 
the  error  may  not  be  in  those  ancient  copies 
upon  which  change  of  the  words  "have 
drunk"  (n-en-wKav),  to  " have  fallen"  {niiTTuKav), 
is  made  to  rest.  Carpenter  regards  the  two 
renderings  as  "akin."  The  Alexandrine 
manuscript  omits  the  word  "wine"  (oii-oi;);  an 
omission,  however,  which  Westcott  and  Ilort 
evidently  treat  as  of  doubtful  authority, 
while  the  revisers  do  not  recognize  it. — And 
the  merchants  of  the  earth  are  waxed 
rich  through  the  abundance  of  her  deli- 
cacies. The  ])icture  is  that  of  a  great  city, 
the  centre  of  the  world's  commerce,  abounding 
in  luxury  and  in  all  the  means  of  worldly  in- 
dulgence; in  the  ample  and  abundant  market 


Ch.  XVIII.] 


REVELATION. 


247 


4  And  I  heard  another  voice  from   heaven,  saying,  I  4      And  I   heard   another  voice  from  heaven,  saying, 
"Come  out  of  her,  my  people,  that  ye  be  not  partakers  Come  forth,  my  people,  out  of  her,  that  ye  have  uo 

of  her  sius,  and  that  ye  receive  not  of  her  plagues.  |       fellowship  with  her  sins,  and  that  ye  receive  not  of 


I  Isa.  48;  20;  52:  11  ;  Jer.  50;  8;  51 :  6,  45;  2  Cor.  6:  17. 


it  affords  for  all  manner  of  delicacies  enrich- 
ing "the  merchants  of  the  earth."  This  pre- 
jnires  us  for  what  is  said  in  ver.  11,  of  the 
mourning  of  the  merchants  at  her  final  over- 
throw. Applying  the  imager^',  we  find  it 
descriptive  of  those  seductions  through  which 
the  papal  Babylon  succeeded  in  winning  to 
its  allegiance  every  worldly  interest,  having 
at  its  devotion  not  only  "the  kings,"  the  po- 
litical forces  of  the  world,  but  also  its  "mer- 
chants," and  alike  the  ministers  and  the 
devotees  of  luxury. 

4-10.  The  Summoning  Voice  from 
Heaven. 

4.  And  I  heard  another  voice  from 
heaven.  Another  voice  besides  that  of  the 
descending  angel.  Bengel  and  Hengsten- 
berg  understand  it  as  the  voice  of  Christ.  As 
the  Speaker's  Commentary  justly  says,  this  is 
"opposed  to  the  character  of  the  entire  pas- 
sage," which,  indeed  is,  in  the  form  of  it,  like 
the  many  other  angelic  proclamations  in  the 
book. — Come  out  of  her,  my  people. 
Just  for  the  reason  that  the  angelic  utterance 
is  representative,  it  is  as  if  the  utterance  of 
God  himself,  or  of  Christ.  The  angel  speaks, 
here  as  elsewhere,  not  in  his  own  name,  nor 
his  own  words,  but  in  the  name  and  in  the 
words  of  that  divine  authority  which  speaks 
through  him. — That  ye  be  not  partakers 
of  her  sins,  and  that  ye  receive  not  of 
her  plagues.  The  rendering  of  the  revised 
version  is  more  correct,  and  at  the  same  time 
expresses  the  meaning  more  exactly.  The  two 
clauses,  "have  no  fellowship  with  her  sins"  — 
"receive  not  of  her  plagues,"  are  closely  con- 
nected, as  cause  and  consequence.  God's 
people  are  enjoined  to  leave  the  wicked  city, 
lest  they  shall  be  drawn  into  partnership  with 
her  in  her  iniquities,  and  share  also  in  her 
punishment.  A  passage  strikingly  parallel 
with  this  is  that  in  Jeremiah  50:  8,  where,  an- 
nouncing the  impending  ruin  of  ancient 
Babylon,  the  prophet  exhorts  the  Lord's 
people:  "Remove  out  of  the  midst  of  Baby- 
lon, and  go  forth  out  of  the  land  of  the  Chal- 
deans, and  be  as  the  he-goats  before  the 
flocks."  And  again,  still  more  noticeably,  in 
51:  6:   "Flee  out  of  the   midst  of  Babylon, 


and  deliver  every  man  his  soul ;  be  not  cut  off 
in  her  iniquity  ;  for  this  is  the  time  of  the 
Lord's  vengeance  ;  he  will  render  unto  her  a 
recompense."  These  predictions  of  the  im- 
pending overthrow  of  the  literal  Babyhm 
afford,  evidently,  a  basis  for  the  imagery  in 
this  chapter.  The  warning  uttered  in  the 
words  now  under  consideration,  finds  its  coun- 
terpart not  only  in  the  passages  just  quoted 
from  Jeremiah,  but  in  other  i)arts  of  the  Old 
Testament;  as  in  the  warning  to  Lotto  flee  out 
of  Sodom  (Geii.  19: 15,22),  to  the  "congregation" 
to  depart  out  of  the  tents  of  Korah,  Dathan, 
and  Abiram  (Num.  i6;26),  and  again  in  Isaiah 
(48:20),  to  depart  out  ^:f  Babylon,  with  the  tes- 
timony', "The  Lord  hath  redeemed  his  servant 
Jacob."  The  injunction  of  our  Saviour  to 
his  own  discij)les,  to  flee  out  of  Jerusalem  in 
the  day  of  its  impending  doom  (Man.  24:i6\  is 
still  a  further  example  of  parallelism.  Ai)ply- 
ing  the  imagery  as  thus  suggested,  we  seem 
to  find  evidence  in  the  words  now  studied  that 
even  in  that  modern  Babylon,  the  so-called  Ro- 
man Church,  there  would  be  found  some  of 
the  Lord's  true  people.  Thej'  are  there,  how- 
ever, as  Israel  in  the  Babylon  of  old ;  as  the 
Lord's  disciples  in  wicked  and  doomed  Jeru- 
salem. Canon  Wordsworth,  in  commenting 
upon  the  passage,  says:  "Even  now,  at  this 
present  time — as  this  prophecy  means — the 
Holy  Spirit,  who  reads  the  heart,  and  who 
wrote  the  Apocalypse,  sees  some  people  of  God 
in  Rome."  When  one  reads,  indeed,  or  sings 
the  familiar  hymn  of  Bernard  of  Clairvaux, 
beginning — 

Jesus,  the  very  thought  of  thee 
With  sweetness  fills  my  breast; 

But  sweeter  far  thy  face  to  see, 
And  in  thy  presence  rest — 

it  .seems  impossible  to  see  in  the  author  of 
such  words  only  the  self-righteous  monk  or 
the  mere  polemic.  And,  again,  as  we  sing 
the  hymn  of  Thomas  Aquinas: 

O  bread  to  pilKrinis  given, 

O  food  that  angels  cat, 
O  manna  s(Mit  from  heaven, 

For  heaven-born  natures  meet! 
Give  us,  for  thee  long  pining, 

To  eat  till  richly  filled; 
Till,  earth's  delights  resigning, 

Our  every  wish  is  stilled. 


248 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XVIII. 


5  "For  her  sins  have  reached  unto  heaven,  and  'God 
hath  reiiiemliercd  her  iniquities. 

0  ■•  Hfwaitl  her  even  as  she  rewarded  you,  and  double 
unto  lier  double  according  to  her  works:  din  the  cup 
which  she  liatli  filled' fill  to  her  double. 

7  /How  much  she  hath  glorified  herself,  and  lived 
deliciously,  so  much  torment  and  sorrow  give  her:  for 
she  saith  in  her  heart,  I  sit  a  izqueen,  and  am  no  widow, 
and  shall  see  no  sorrow. 

8  Therefore  shall  her  plagues  come  *in  one  day, 
death,  and  nioiniiing,  and  famine;  and 'she  shall  be 
utterly  burned  with  tire:  *for  strong  is  the  Lord  God 
who  judgeth  her. 


5  her  plagues:  for  her  sins  i  have  reached  even  unto 
heaven,  and  (jod  liad  remembered   her  iniquities. 

6  Render  unto  her  even  as  she  rendered,  aud  double 
tin/u  her  tlie  double  according  to  her  works:  in  the 
cup   which   she  mingled,   mingle   unto  her  double. 

7  How  much  soever  she  glorified  herself,  and  waxed 
2  wanton,  so  much  give  her  of  torment  aud  mourn- 
ing: for  she  saith  in  her  heart,  I  sit  a  queen,  and 
am   no  widow,  and  shall  in  no  wise  see  mourning. 

8  Therefore  in  one  day  shall  her  i)lagues  come,  death, 
and  mourning, and  famine;  and  she  shall  be  utterly 
burned  with  fire;  ■^for  strong  is  the  Lord  God  who 


a  Gen.  18:  20,21 ;  Jer.  51:9;  Jonah  1:  2 6  ch.  16:  19 c  Ps.  i:n:  8;  Jer.  50:  15.  29;  51:  24,  49;  2  Tim.  4:  13;  ch.  l.t :  10 d  ch. 

14:  10....e  ch.  16:  19....^  F.zek.  28  :  2.  etc...  .j  Isa.  47  :  7.  S:    Ze|.h.2:  15....  Aver.  10:    Isa.  47  :  9....i  ch.  17:  16. .  ..<:  Jer.  50:  34; 
ch.  11 :  17. —  1  Or,  claoe  togetlier . . .  .2  Or,  luxurious ...  .'i  Some  aucient  authorities  omii.  tAe  Lord. 


it  may  seem  strange  to  us,  till  we  realize 
liow  many  things  influence  religious  pre- 
po.ssession  and  association,  that  men  like  those 
named,  or  others  in  our  own  time,  should  be 
found  in  a  communion  so  utterly  unlike 
what  a  church  of  Christ  should  be.  Chris- 
tian charity,  however,  takes  comfort  in  the 
conviction  that  not  all  who  are  in  Rome  are 
of  Rome.  The  voice  of  warning  in  the  pas- 
sage now  before  us  is,  also,  a  voice  of  pro- 
phecy— a  prophecy  fulfilled  in  the  numerous 
instances  in  which  the  Lord's  true  people 
have  found  it  impossible  to  longer  "fellow- 
•  ship"  the  "sins"  of  the  papal  Babylon,  and 
have  "come  out  of  her."  Doubtless  there  are 
to  be  many  more  such  secessions ;  probably,  as 
the  hour  of  doom  for  her  draws  on,  more  and 
greater  than  ever  before.  One  element  of 
the  downfall  may  be  the  abando^iment  of 
this  iniquitous  system  by  an  increasing  num- 
ber of  those  who,  aware  of  its  true  character, 
dread  lest  they  shall  be  involved  in  its  doom. 

5.  For  her  sins  have  reached  unto 
heaven,  and  God  hath  remembered  her 
iniquities.  Some  commentators  prefer  the 
translation  in  the  margin  of  the  revision,  "her 
sins  clave  together  even  unto  heaven."  "The 
idea,"  says  Carpenter,  in  Ellicott,  "is  of  a 
great  heap  firmly  fastened,  and  towering,  like 
another  Babel,  as  far  as  heaven."  Upon  the 
final  clau.se  of  the  verse  his  comment  is: 
"God  hath  remembered  her  [Babylon]. 
Sometimes  the  oppressed  have  thought  that 
God  had  forgotten  the  voice  of  mercy ;  but 
the  long-sutfering  of  the  Lord  is  salvation." 

6.  Reward  her  even  as  she  rewarded 
you,  and  double  unto  her  double  accord- 
ing to  her  works  :  in  the  cup  which  she 
hath  filled,  fill  to  her  double.  "You" 
should  be  omitted.  It  is  not  in  the  amended 
Greek,  and  is  misleading.  It  would  imply 
that  the  command  to  visit  this  judgment  upon 


Babylon  is  addressed  to  those  people  of  God 
who  have  just  been  exhorted  to  come  out  of 
her.  This  is  not  the  meaning.  The  address 
in  this  sixth  verse  is  to  those  whom  God  ap- 
points as  the  instruments  of  judgment  and 
punishment.  The  correct  translation,  in  the 
revised  version,  implies  this.  Who  these  in- 
.struments  are,  is  not  indicated.  Hengstenberg 
thinks  they  are  the  "ten  horns"  mentioned 
in  chapter  seventeen.  These  may  be  in- 
cluded ;  but  it  should  seem  that  the  commis- 
sion embraces  all  varieties  of  agencies  and 
methods  for  effecting  that  final  destruction  in 
which  shall  be  requited  unto  the  inj'stical 
Babylon,  fourfold,  the  evil  it  has  wrought. 

7.  How  much  [''^  in  as  many  things  as''] 
she  hath  glorified  herself,  and  lived  de- 
liciously, so  much  torment  and  sorrow 
give  her.  When  pride  and  luxury  come  to 
their  doom,  the  depth  of  the  fall  bears  a  cer- 
tain proportion  to  that  height  to  wliioh  pre- 
sumption had  soared. — For  she  saith  in  her 
heart,  I  sit  a  queen,  and  am  no  Avidow, 
and  shall  see  no  sorrow.  The  latter  nega- 
tive is  emphatic  (o«  n.ri) — "in  no  wise,"  "shall 
surely  not  see  sorrow,"  or  mourning.  It  was 
even  thus,  as  we  have  seen,  that  Babylon  of 
old  boasted  herself.  Even  more  self-suffi- 
cient, haughty,  and  in  its  own  imagination 
secure  was  the  modern  Babylon,  when  in  the 
height  of  its  power  and  presumption. 

8.  Therefore  shall  her  plagues  come 
in  one  day,  death,  and  mourning,  and 
famine.  "Death,"  says  Alford,  "for  her 
scorn  of  the  prospect  of  widowhood,  mourn- 
ing for  her  inordinate  reveling,  famine  for 
her  abundance."  "In  one  day"  shall  all 
this  befall  her,  indicating  how  much  as  a 
sudden  surprise  the  visitation  shall  come. — 
And  she  shall  be  utterly  burned  with 
fire.  Whether,  as  Elliott  maintains,  this 
means  the  actual  burning  of  Rome  by  the 


Ch.  XVIII.] 


REVELATION. 


249 


9  And  "the  kings  of  the  earth,  who  have  committed 
fornication  aud  lived  deliciously  with  her,  'shall  l)e- 
wail  her,  and  lament  for  her,  =  when  they  shall  see  the 
smoke  of  her  burning, 


9  judged  her.  And  the  kings  of  the  earth,  who  eom- 
mitted  foruication  and  lived  i  wantcuily  with  her, 
shall  weep  aud  wail  over  her,  when  they  look  upon 


a  Kzek.  26  :  16,  17  ;  ch.  17  :  2 ;  ver.  3 6  Jer.  50 :  46 c  ver.  18;  oh.  19  :  3. 1 


Or,  luxurioitaly. 


army  of  the  Duke  of  Bourbon,  the  general 
of  Charles  V.,  is  much  more  than  doubtful. 
The  language  is  wholly  figurative,  the  allu- 
sion being  to  the  fact  that  in  the  final  over- 
throw of  cities,  anciently,  the  flame  finished 
what  the  storm  and  the  sack  had  begun.  In 
excavating,  now,  those  mounds  which  are  all 
that  remains  of  such  cities — Troy,  or  Nine- 
veh, or  others — the  explorer  finds  evidence 
abundant  that  in  this  way  the  crowning  ruin 
was  wrought.  Our  passage  simply  means 
that,  in  the  overthrow  of  mystical  Babylon, 
its  destruction  shall  be  utter  and  entire.  Tliere 
may  also  be  an  allusion  to  the  punishment 
appointed  for  the  harlot  in  Lev.  20: 14 ;  21:  9. — 
For  strong  is  the  Lord  God  who  judgeth 
her.  We  may  recall  the  words  in  17:  17: 
"  For  God  hath  put  in  their  hearts  to  fulfil 
his  will."  Overruling  providences  direct  to 
the  purposed  end  the  agencies  necessary  to  its 
accomplishment.  As  the  connection  of  the 
words  just  quoted  show,  these  agencies  will 
be  found  in  those  worldly  powers  which  had 
"given  their  kingdom  unto  the  beast,"  had 
lent  themselves  to  the  designs  of  Antichrist, 
and  been  willing  servants  of  his  in  his  war 
upon  the  people  and  the  Kingdom  of  God; 
and  which,  as  we  know,  were  during  cen- 
turies in  close  confederacy  with  the  popes 
and  their  hierarchy  in  all  the  worst  iniquities 
done  by  them.  These  at  last  turn  against  the 
harlot  (ch.  17: 16) ;  thej'  hate  her,  they  make  her 
desolate  and  naked,  they  eat  her  flesh,  and 
burn  her  with  fire.  Connecting  these  words 
with  those  now  more  immediately  before  us, 
we  perceive  that  the  divine  "strength  "  seen  in 
the  overthrow  of  mystical  Babylon  is  not  in 
any  direct  exertion  of  divine  power,  but,  as  we 
have  said,  in  that  overruling  of  the  divine 
providences,  which  turns  to  ministers  of  his 
will  those  powers  of  the  world  that,  far 
from  having  any  view  to  the  promotion  of 
his  designs,  only  seek  their  own  ends  of  sel- 
fish ambition.  In  nothing  is  the  almightiness 
of  God  more  signalized  in  history  than  where, 
thus,  he  both  uses  and  "restrains"  the  wrath 
of  man. 

9,  10.  The  Mourning  of  the  Kings. 

9.  And  the  kings  of  the  earth.    By  "the 


kings,"  here,  are  those  world-powers  intended 
which  have  already  appeared  on  the  scene  as 
instruments  of  the  city's  overthrow?  It  is  not 
necessary,  we  may  say  in  reply,  to  treat  the 
vision  as  if  it  were  a  connected  and  consistent 
narrative  of  actual  events.  The  whole  repre- 
sentation is  scenic  and  dramatic,  and  is  to  be 
interpreted  accordingly.  Neither,  therefore, 
is  it  necessary  to  regard  the  "kings"  who 
take  part  in  this  lamentation  as  the  very  same 
as  those  who  become,  under  the  constraining 
impulses  of  divine  providence,  the  immediate 
instruments  of  Babylon's  destruction.  It  is 
"the  ten  horns"  of  the  beast  which  hate  the 
harlot  and  burn  her  with  fire.  These  words 
point  to  certain  specific  world-powers, 
European  monarchies,  at  first  confederate 
with  the  Papacy,  and  afterwards  compelled 
by  the  extravagance  of  its  pretensions  and 
the  outrageousness  of  its  usurpations  to  turn 
against  it.  The  vivid  picture  now  especially 
before  us  is  of  another  kind;  more  general, 
less  distinct  and  specific  in  the  figures  that  ap- 
pear in  it,  and  less  affected  by  limits  of  time. 
Besides,  even  those  powers  providentially 
made  instruments  for  bringing  upon  the 
doomed  city  deserved  judgment,  must  not  be 
supposed  to  have  acted  with  any  conscious- 
ncos  of  what  they  were  doing,  least  of  all  with 
any  purpose  to  make  the  overthrow  so  com- 
plete and  awful.  When  the  Emperor  Charles 
sent  an  army  against  Rome  itself,  it  was  not 
that  he  had  become  a  supporter  of  the  Refor- 
mation. When  Henry  the  Eighth  proclaimed 
himself  head  of  the  Church  of  England,  it 
was  not  that  he  had  become  at  heart  and 
really  a  Protestant.  The  ecclesiastical  policy 
of  kings,  in  that  age  peculiarlj-,  was  deter- 
mined by  their  political  policy,  or  by  private 
passion  or  piqvie.  It  was  the  divine  over- 
ruling that  made  their  acts  so  destructive  of 
papal  power  and  pretension.  Although,  there- 
fore, we  should  view  these  same  powers  as  in- 
cluded with  the  "the  kings  of  the  earth" 
here  represented  as  lamenting  the  overtlirow 
of  Babylon,  there  is  no  neccessary  inconsist- 
ency implied;  while,  in  fact,  the  picture  is, 
as  we  said,  altogether  general,  and  is  intended 
to  make  more  vivid  and  intense  our  concep- 


250 


REVELATION, 


[Ch.  XVIII. 


10  standing  afar  off  for  the  fear  of  her  torment, 
savin",  "Alas,  alas,  that  great  city  Babylon,  that  mighty 
city!  'for  in  one  hour  is  thy  judgment  come. 

11  And  ''tlie  merchants  of  the  earth  shall  weep  and 
mourn  over  her;  for  no  man  buyeth  their  merchandise 
any  more. 


10  the  smoke  of  her  burning,  standing  afar  otf  for  the 
fear  of  her  torment,  saying.  Woe,  woe,  tlie  great 
city,  Babylon,  the  strong  city !  for  in  one  hour  is  thy 

11  judgment  come.  And  the  merchants  of  the  earth 
weep  and  mourn  over  her,  for  no  man  buyeth  their 


;  Isa.  21 :  9;  ch.  14  :  8 6  ver.  17  :  19 c  Ezek.  27:  27-36;  ver.  3. 


tion  of  that  great  event,  the  fall  and  destruc- 
tion of  mystical  Babylon. — Who  have  com- 
mitted fornication  and  lived  deliciously 
with  her.  It  is  the  past  relation  between 
them  and  the  harlot-city  which  they  recall, 
and  which  now  again  comes  to  the  foreground 
of  the  scene,  as  represented. — Shall  bewail 
her  and  lament  for  her,  when  they  shall 
see  the  smoke  of  her  burning.  In  Jere- 
miah 50:  4(1,  we  read:  "At  the  noise  of  the 
taking  of  Babylon  the  earth  is  moved,  and 
the  cry  is  heard  among  the  nations."  On 
whatever  terms  of  antagonism  and  hostility 
great  cities  or  empires  may  stand  with  each 
other,  when  some  vast  calamity  visits  one  of 
them,  a  shudder  passes  through  all  the  rest. 
While,  perhaps,  they  triumph  over  the  down- 
fall of  an  enemy  or  a  rival,  underneath  this 
feeling  there  is  the  reminder  how  unstable  is 
all  earthly  greatness,  and  the  consciousness 
of  liability  to  calamities  of  the  same  nature. 
Even  the  overthrow  of  a  power  like  the 
Papacy,  or  its  weakening  to  such  an  extent  as 
to  make  it  no  longer  dreaded,  while  it  may 
have  been  a  relief  in  one  way  to  the  political 
powers  so  long  restive  under  its  meddlesome 
pretensions,  yet  could  not  fail  to  be  looked 
upon  by  them  with  apprehension.  Though 
often  a  perplexing  and  annoying  element  in 
political  complications,  it  had,  nevertheless, 
been  often  a  convenience ;  besides  that  despot- 
isms of  every  kind  are  wont  to  make  com- 
mon cause  against  human  freedom  and 
against  all  efforts  to  destroy,  or  even  limit, 
their  absolutism. 

10.  Standing  afar  off  for  the  fear  of 
her  torment.  This  is  no  generous  sorrow, 
sympathizing  and  anxious  to  afford  relief  It 
"stands  afar  off,"  selfishly  solicitous  lest  .some 
spark  of  the  great  burning  shall  kindle  a 
conflagration  nearer  home. — Saying,  Alas, 
alsis,  [woe,  i/'of],  that  great  eity  Babylon, 
that  mighty  city.  A  like  vivid  scene  is 
depicted  at  Ezek.  26:  If),  16,  where  of  Tyre 
the  prophet  says:  "Shall  not  the  isles  shake 
at  the  sound  of  thy  fall,  when  the  wounded 
cry,    when    the    slaughter    is    made    in    the 


midst  of  thee?  Then  all  the  princes  of  the 
sea  shall  come  down  from  their  thrones,  and 
lay  away  their  robes,  and  put  ofi"  their  broid- 
ered  garments;  they  shall  clothe  themselves 
with  trembling;  they  shall  sit  upon  the 
ground,  and  shall  tremble  at  every  moment, 
and  be  astonished  at  thee."  See,  also,  Ezek. 
27:  35. — For  in  one  hour  is  thy  judgment 
come.  The  same  words,  "in  one  hour,"  are 
found  in  ver.  17,  19,  recurring,  says  a  writer 
on  the  passage,  "with  the  monotony  of  a 
passing  bell." 

11-16.  Lamentation  op  the  Merchants. 

11.  And  the  merchants  of  the  earth 
shall  [omit  ^^ shall"  — the  verb  is  present 
tense]  weep  and  mourn  over  her;  for  no 
man  buyeth  their  merchandise  [ca?'go] 
any  more.  In  ver.  3,  we  have  already  been 
told  how  "the  merchants  of  the  earth  waxed 
rich"  through  their  traffic  with  the  now 
doomed  city,  hastening  to  its  downfall.  Of 
this  we  are  reminded  here.  In  the  enumera- 
tion which  follows,  the  picture  is  perfect  of  a 
great  city,  stretching  its  lines  of  commerce  in 
all  directions,  even  to  the  remotest  sources  of 
traffic,  gathering  unto  itself  all  that  can  most 
efficiently  minister  to  its  pride  and  luxury. 
For  a  literal  counterpart  to  it,  one  may  read 
with  profit  what  is  said  of  Tyre,  in  the  twenty- 
seventh  and  twenty-eighth  chapters  of  Eze- 
kiel.  In  the  Rome  of  his  own  time,  however, 
John  might  readily  find  another;  and  indeed 
the  city  by  the  Tiber  may  have,  in  great  part 
at  least,  supplied  him  with  the  original  of 
this  graphic  delineation.  The  following  sen- 
tences might  almost  be  thought  to  have  been 
written  by  Gibbon  ("Decline  and  Fall,"  Vol. 
I.,  Ch.  2)  as  illu.strative  of  our  present  pas- 
sage: "The  most  remote  countries  of  the 
ancient  world  were  ransacked  to  supply  the 
pomp  and  delicacy  of  Rome.  The  forest  of 
Scythia  afforded  some  valuable  furs.  Amber 
was  brought  overland  from  the  shores  of  the 
Baltic  to  the  Danube;  and  the  barbarians 
were  astonished  at  the  price  which  they  re- 
ceived in  exchange  for  so  u.sele.ss  a  com- 
modity.    There  was  a  considerable  demand 


Ch.  XVIIL] 


REVELATION. 


251 


12  "The  merchandise  of  gold,  and  silver,  and  precious 
stones,  and  of  pearls,  and  fine  linen,  and  purple,  and 
silk,  and  scarlet,  and  all  thyiue  wood,  and  all  manner 
vessels  of  ivory,  and  all  manner  vessels  of  most  precious 
wood,  and  of  brass,  and  iron,  and  marble, 

13  And  cinnamon,  and  odours,  and  ointments,  and 
frankincense,  and  wine,  and  oil,  and  fine  flour,  and 
wheat,  and  beasts,  and  sheep,  and  horses,  and  chariots, 
and  '  slaves,  and  <=  souls  of  men. 


12  '  merchandise  any  more ;  '  merchandise  of  gold,  and 
silver,  and  precious  stone,  and  pearls,  and  tine  linen, 
and  purple,  and  silk,  and  scarlit ;  and  all  Ihyine 
wood,  and  every  vessel  of  ivory,  and  every  vessel 
made  of  most  precious  wood,  and  of  brass,  and  iron, 

13  MiiX  marble;  and  cinnamon,  and  -spice,  and  incense, 
and  ointment,  and  frankincense,  and  wine,  and  oil, 
and  tine  flour,  and  wheat,  and  cattle,  and  sheep; 
and  iiiKichandise  of  horses  and  chariots  and  ^slaves; 


a  ch.  17:  4 6  Ezek.  27:  13. 1  Gr.  cargo 2  Gr. 


for  Babylonian  carpets,  and  other  manufac- 
tures of  the  East ;  but  the  most  important  and 
unpopuhir  branch  of  foreign  trade  was  carried 
on  witli  Arabia  and  India.  .  .  .  The  return 
of  the  fleet  of  Egypt  was  fixed  to  the  montlis 
of  December  or  January  ;  and  as  soon  as  their 
rich  cargo  had  been  transported  on  camels 
from  the  Ked  Sea  to  the  Nile,  and  had  de- 
scended that  river  as  far  as  Alexandria,  it 
was  poured,  without  delay,  into  the  capital  of 
the  empire.  The  objects  of  Oriental  traffic 
were  splendid  and  trifling ;  silk,  a  pound  of 
which  was  esteemed  not  inferior  in  value  to 
a  pound  of  gold ;  precious  stones,  among 
which  the  pearl  claimed  the  first  rank  after 
the  diamond;  and  a  variety  of  aromatics,  that 
were  consumed  in  religious  worship  and  the 
pomp  of  funerals.  The  labor  and  risk  of  the 
voyage  was  rewarded  with  almost  incredible 
profit."  There  was,  indeed,  no  lack  of  in- 
stances, present  or  past,  suggestive  of  imagery 
such  as  that  by  which  the  passage  now  studied 
is  made  so  graphic.  Babylon,  Nineveh,  Tyre, 
Alexandria,  Rome,  and  other  of  the  great 
cities  enriched  and  corrupted  by  conquest  or 
by  commerce,  stand  in  history  as  examples  of 
that  prosperity  which  builds  its  gaudy  struc- 
tures upon  the  brink  of  ruin.  When  at  last 
the  gulf  swallows  them,  nations  and  commu- 
nities feel  the  shock  as  depicted  here,  while 
the  selfish  sorrow  and  consternation  of  tho.se 
who  have  found  in  the  folly,  and  luxury,  and 
splendor  of  such  cities  markets  for  their 
"merchandise,"  is  such  as  under  the  symbols 
of  this  vision  we  find  so  strikingly  set  forth. 

12,  13.  The  merchandise  of  gold,  and 
silver,  and  precious  stones,  and  pearls. 
The  articles  of  merchandise  enumerated  in 
these  verses  may  be  classified  in  groups.  First 
are  the  treasures  here  named.  Next  the  "soft 
clothing"  and  other  luxurious  attire,  fine 
linen,  and  purple,  and  silk,  and  scarlet; 
tho.se  materials  used  in  the  finishing  and  fur- 
nishing of  luxurious  dwellings;  thyine  [sweet- 
scented]  wood,  and  all  manner  vessels  of 


ivory,  and  all  manner  vessels  of  most 
precious  wood,  and  of  brass,  and  iron, 
and  marble  ;  then  aromatics,  such  as  Gib- 
bon also  mentions,  cinnamon,  and  odours, 
and  ointments,  and  frankincense;  next 
articles  of  drink  and  food,  wine  and  oil, 
and  fine  flour,  and  wheat,  and  beasts, 
and  sheep;  then  horses,  and  chariots, 
and  slaves,  and  souls  of  men.  "Tlie 
climax  of  wicked  worldliness,"  says  a  writer, 
"is  reached  in  this  last;  it  gives  the  finishing 
touch  to  the  picture  of  a  society  wholly  en- 
grossed in  pleasure  and  indolence  and  selfish- 
ness, which  lays  every  market  under  tribute  to 
add  to  its  luxuriousness,  and  sticrifices  not  only 
the  happiness,  but  the  lives  and  liberties  of 
their  fellow-creatures  to  their  own  enjoyment. 
The  word  translated  "slaves"  is,  literally, 
"bodies."  Some  expositors  prefer  to  trans- 
late the  word  thus  literally,  and  tliis  render- 
ing, as  will  be  observed,  is  also  given  in  the 
margin  of  the  revision.*  We  may,  perhaps, 
Siiy  that  by  "bodies"  are  meant  slaves  viewed 
simply  as  compelled  to  servile  labor;  wliile 
^^ souls  of  men"  is,  as  Lange  expresses  it, 
"indicative  of  an  augmentation,  the  extreme 

*The  structure  of  the  clause,  as  it  stands  in  the 
Greek,  is  peculiar,  and  somewhat  perplexing.  There 
are  three  words  in  the  genitive  which  would  be  liter- 
ally translated  imd  of  /lorxi's  (liithov),  and  of  chariots 
(peSiiv],  mul  of  x/ares  (ffiofioTcoc).  Then,  in  the  accusa- 
tive, o«rf  .to?//.v  o/ wc"  'il/vxi?  arBpuiTTiuv).  Aiinther  in- 
stance of  the  same  kind  is  found  in  the  previous  verse 
(ve:-.  li),  where,  following  merchandise  (vowof),  we  liave 
a  succession  of  genitives,  and  then  in  the  accu&atn.  , 
"all  thyine  wood"  {TTav{vKov  eutvoi/).  It  is  an  e.\am])le 
of  what  Winer  (sect.  G3:  2:  1)  calls  "the  orafio  vm-iu/a," 
which  "is  found,"  he  says,  "in  accurate  writers,  when 
the  .sequence  of  the  preceding  construction  would  have 
been  heavy,  ambiguous,  or  not  entirely  suited  to  the 
thought."  "It  takes  place  when,  in  parallel  sentences 
and  members  of  sentences,  two  (synonymous)  construc- 
tions have  been  adopted,  each  of  wliich  is  complete  in 
itself."  He  calls  it  "  /irtKror/rnconx  structure  of  a  sen- 
tence." If  we  accept  this,  then  "souls  of  men,"  in  the 
accusative,  is  a  "synonymous"  though  "heterogene- 
ous" form  of  e.\pression,  with  change  of  case  to  give 
it  the  more  of  emphasis,  and  so  lending  intensity  to 
what  is  implied  in  the  (awfiaruv),  or  "  bodies." 


252 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XVIII. 


14  And  the  fruits  that  thy  soul  lusted  after  are  de- 
parted from  thee,  and  all  things  which  were  dainty 
and  g(jijdly  are  departed  from  thee,  and  thou  shall  find 
theiu  u(»  moi'e  at  all. 

15  "The  merchauts  of  these  things,  which  were 
made  rich  by  her,  shall  stand  afar  off  for  the  fear  of 
her  torment,  weeping  and  wailing, 

115  And  saying,  Alas,  alas,  that  great  city,  'that  was 
clothed  in  fine  linen,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and 
decked  with  gold,  and  precious  stones,  and  pearls! 

17  "  l'"or  in  one  hour  so  great  riches  is  come  to  nought. 
And  "^every  shipmaster,  and  all  the  company  in  ships, 
and  sailors',  and  as  many  as  trade  by  sea,  stood  afar  off. 


14  and  i  souls  of  men.  And  the  fruits  which  thy  soul 
lusted  after  are  goue  from  thee,  and  all  things  that 
were  dainty  and  sumptuous  are  perished  iruui  thee, 

15  and  iiii'ii  shall  find  them  no  more  at  all.  The  mer- 
chants of  the.se  things,  who  were  made  rich  by  her, 
shall   stand   afar  otf   for  the   fear  of  her   torment, 

16  weeping  and  mourning;  saying.  Woe,  wue,  the 
great  city,  she  that  was  arrayed  in  fine  linen  and 
purple    and    scarlet,  and    sjeclced    with    guld    and 

17  precious  stone  and  pearl  1  for  in  one  hour  so  great 
riches  is  made  desolate.  And  every  shipmaster,  and 
every  one  that  saileth  any  whither,  and  mariners, 
and  as  many  as  ^gain  their  living  by  sea,  stood  alar 


a  ver.  3:  11 6  ch.  17  :  4 c  ve.-.  10 d  Isu.  23:  14;  Ezek.  27:  29. 1  Or,  lives 2  Gr.  gilied 3  Gr.  work  the  )ea. 


consequence  of  slave-holding."  The  slavery 
described,  therefore,  was  not  simply  of  the 
body,  but  of  the  soul;  and  traffic  in  such 
slaves  was  traffic,  far  more  than  simply  in 
the  bodies — in  the  souls  of  men.  It  is,  as  is 
said  in  Ellicott:  "The  finishing  touch  to  a 
picture  of  society  wholly  engrossed  in  plea- 
sure and  indolence  and  selfishness" — "wicked 
worldiiness"  in  its  "climax." 

14.  And  the  fruits  that  thy  soul  lusted 
after  are  departed  from  thee,  and  all 
things  which  were  dainty  and  goodly 
are  departed  from  thee,  and  thou  shalt 
find  them  no  more  at  all.  This  is  in  the 
nature  of  an  apostrophe  to  the  wicked  and 
worldly  city,  in  its  hour  of  doom.  The 
"sumi)tuous"  of  the  revision  is  more  cor- 
rectly expressive  than  the  "goodly"  of  the 
older  version.  The  "shall  find,"  besides,  is 
in  the  third  person,  not  in  the  second,  as  the 
old  ver.^ion  imports. 

15.  The  merchants  of  these  things, 
which  were  made  rich  by  her,  shall  stand 
afar  off  for  the  fear  of  her  torment, 
weeping  and  wailing.  In  the  description 
of  the  wailing  of  the  kings,  the  future  tense 
of  the  verb  is  used  ("shall  bewail  her");  tit 
the  eleventh  verse,  in  the  best  Greek,  which 
the  revision  follows,  the  tense  changes  to 
"the  graphic  present,"  as  Alford  terms  it; 
in  this  fifteenth  verse  the  future  is  resumed. 
Like  the  kings,  the  merchants  "stand  afar 
off,"  in  selfish  "  fear  of  her  torinent."  Even 
this  lament  expresses,  not  sorrow  for  the 
doomed  city,  but  lamentation  at  the  loss  of 
such  wealth,  and  such  opportunities  of  mer- 
chandize. 

16.  And  saying,  Alas,  alas,  that  [fhr'\ 
great  city,  that  wns  clothed  in  fine  linen, 
and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  decked  with 
gold,  and  precious  stones  and  pearls 
\_stone  and  pearl].     Observe  how  the  attention 


is  wholly  occupied  with  the  exterior  splen- 
dors of  the  city.  It  is  the  loss  of  these  which 
the  merchants  lament;  to  what  is  beyond  these 
they  give  no  thought. 

17.  For  in  one  hour  so  great  riches  is 
come  to  nought  [is  made  desolate].  Still 
it  is  the  "riches."  Here  recurs,  also,  the 
dismal  refrain,  "in  one  hour." 

17-19.    Lament  of  the  Shipmasters. 

17.  And  every  shipmaster,  and  all  the 
company  in  ships,  and  sailors,  and  as 
many  as  trade  by  sea.  The  amended  text 
reads,  "and  every  one  sailing  to  a  place,"  or 

"sailing  any  whither"  (xal  n-as  6  en-i  roitov  wKiiov^, 

for  "and  all  [the  company]  in  ships"  (koi  nSa 
en-i  Tujf  TrAot'wf).  The  clausc,  "  as  many  as  trade 
by  sea,"  may  be  translated,  "as  many  as 
work  (epydiovrai)  the  sca."  The  Speaker's  Com- 
mentary, as  also  Lange,  prefers  "pilot"  to 
"shipmaster."  The  former  word,  however, 
would  now  be  misleading.  The  pilot,  an- 
ciently, accompanied  the  ship  in  its  entire 
voyage,  while  the  modern  one  is  called  into 
service  only  on  vessels  entering  or  leaving 
harbor.  The  word  "shipmaster"  perhaps  ex- 
presses the  meaning  as  correctly  as  any  that 
ciin  be  found.  The  clau.se,  "all  that  sail  any- 
whither,"  seems  to  be  general,  descri))tive  of 
those  who  make  voj-ages,  whether  as  con- 
nected with  the  working  of  ships,  or  using 
them  simply  for  purposes  of  transport.  Next 
are  mentioned  the  sailors,  and  after  these  all 
such  as  are  interested  in  the  sea  as  the  iiigh- 
way  of  traffic,  or  as  in  any  way  the  source  of 
gain,  including  fishermen,  pearl-divers,  etc. 
This  specific  mention  makes  the  description 
more  grajjhic.  —  Stood  afar  off.  In  each 
case — kings,  merchants,  shipmasters,  sailors — 
the  group  described  stands  "afar  off."  The 
same  feature  of  avoidance  appears  in  all. 
They  lament,  but  they  do  not  sympathize; 
least  of  all  do  they  offer  help.     Tiiey  are  as 


Ch.  XVIII.] 


REVELATION. 


253 


18  "And  cried  when  they  saw  the  smoke  of  her  burn- 
ing, saying,  '  What  cily  is  "like  uuto  this  great  city ! 

ly  And  <^they  cast  dust  on  tlieir  heads,  and  cried, 
weeping  and  wailing,  saying,  Alas,  alas  that  great  city, 
wherein  were  made  rich  all  that  had  ships  in  the  sea 
by  reason  of  her  costliness!  ''for  in  one  hour  is  she 
made  desolate. 

20  "  Rejoice  over  her,  thou  heaven,  and  ye  holy  apos- 
tles and  prophets:  for /God  hath  avenged  you  on  her. 


18  off,  and  cried  out  as  they  looked  upon  the  smoke  of 
her  burning,  saying,  Wliiit  city  is  like  the  great  city? 

19  And  they  cast  dust  on  their  heads,  and  cried,  weep- 
ing and  mourning,  saying,  Woe,  woe,  the  great  city, 
wherein  were  made  rich  all  that  had  their  ships  in 
the  sea  by  reason  of  her  costliness  I  for  in  one  hour 

20  is  she  made  desulate.  Rejoice  over  her,  thou  heaven, 
and  ye  saints,  and  ye  apostles,  and  ye  prophets;  lor 
God  hath  judged  your  judgment  on  "her. 


a  Ezek.  27  :  30,  31 ; 


.  ...6ch.  13:4....c  Jo'^h.  7:  6;  1  Sam.  4  :  12;  J..h2:  12;  Ezek.  27  :  30.... d  ver.  8....C  Isa.  44  :  23:  49:13: 
Jer.  51 :  4». . . ./  Luke  1 1  :  4»,  oU  :  ch.  la  :  2. 


if  conscious  that  the  doomed  city  perishes  at 
the  hand  of  God,  and  as  if  while  grieving  at 
the  magnitude  of  the  worldly  loss,  neverthe- 
less recognizing  a  kind  of  justice  in  the  over- 
throw. Babylon  is  for  each  of  these  groups 
"that  great  city  ";  not  however  with  a  great- 
ness that  commands  from  them  any  emotion 
of  either  reverence  or  pity.  Their  sorrow  is 
whollj'  a  selfish  sorrow.  "  The  hope  of  their 
gains  is  gone." 

But  yesterday,  the  word  of  Caesar  might 

Have  stood  against  the  world ;  now  lies  he  there, 

And  none  so  poor  to  do  him  reverence. 

18.  And  cried  when  they  saw  the 
smoke  of  her  burning,  saying,  What  city 
is  like  unto  this  great  city!  In  what  sense 
these  words  are  to  be  taken,  the  next  verse 
shows. 

19.  And  they  cast  dust  on  their  heads, 
weeping  and  wailing.  The  casting  of  dust 
on  the  head,  or  lying  prostrate  in  the  dust, 
were  Oriental  modes  of  expressing  the  ex- 
tremity of  grief  or  despair.  The  verb  "stood " 
in  the  previous  verse,  and  "cast"  in  the  pres- 
ent one,  are,  of  course,  in  the  past  tense,  to 
which  the  future  in  previous  verses  here 
changes.  These  transitions  from  future  to 
present  (ver.  ii.  i/,  13),  and  again  from  present  to 
future  (ver.  15, 16),  and  now,  once  more  from 
future  to  past,  are  indicative  of  the  animated 
character  of  the  description.  It  is  as  if  in  the 
hurry  of  narration,  and  in  the  rapid  changes 
of  the  Apocalyptic  scenerj^  present,  past,  and 
future  become  in  a  manner  confused. — Say- 
ing, Alas,  alas,  that  great  city,  wherein 
Avere  made  rich  all  that  had  ships  in  the 
sea,  by  reason  of  her  costliness!  The 
shipmen  and  traders  are  like  the  merchants. 
It  is  that  many  were  made  rich  by  her;  for 
this  they  lament  the  doom  of  Babylon.  Al- 
ford  prefers  to  translate,  "whereby  were 
made."  He  thinks  the  "in"  (e^),  cannot  be 
local,  as  it  is  made  to  be  in  the  authorized 
version.  Carpenter  and  others  prefer  the  ren- 
dering, "in  which  all  who  had  their  vessels 


in  the  sea  grew  rich  out  of  her  costliness" — 
out  of  "her  extravagances  of  living  and  the 
splendor  of  her  palaces,  which  drew  materials 
from  all  parts  of  the  world." — For  in  one 
hour  is  she  made  desolate.  Once  more 
the  refrain,  "in  one  hour";  the  words,  "is 
she  made  desolate,"  answer  to  those  in  the 
lament  of  the  merchants:  "in  one  hour  so 
great  riches  is  made  desolate." 

20.  Rejoice  over  her  thou  heaven,  and 
ye  holy  apostles  and  prophets.  In  ver.  4, 
a  voice  from  heaven  has  summoned  all  in 
Babylon  who  are  the  Lord's  people  to  "come 
out  of  her."  This  same  voice,  it  seems  to  be, 
now  calls  upon  heaven  and  all  holy  beings  to 
rejoice  over  her  fall.  These  are  placed  in  a 
position  of  marked  contrast  to  the  worldly 
and  covetous  groups  of  mourners  before  in- 
troduced, lamenting  the  fate  of  the  harlot 
with  whom  they  had  "lived  deliciously," 
of  the  great  city  wherein  "so  many  were 
made  rich."  The  change  in  the  revised  ver- 
sion from  "holy  apostles  and  prophets,"  to 
"j'e  saints,  ye  apostles,  and  ye  prophets," 
rests  upon  an  amended  reading  in  the  Greek 
text.  It  has  been  argued,  says  Carpenter, 
"that  this  verse  represents  the  apostles  to  be 
in  heaven,  and  from  this  it  has  been  inferred 
that  the  twelve  must  all  have  died  before  the 
Apocalypse  was  written;  and,  if  so,  St.  John 
was  not  the  writer.  The  verse,  however,  has 
no  reference  whatever  to  the  question;  it  is 
not  meant  to  state  who  have  passed  into 
heaven  and  who  have  not ;  it  is  simply  a  sum- 
mons to  all  who  have  fought  on  the  side  of 
their  Lord  to  rejoice  at  the  removal  of  one 
of  the  great  obstacles  to  the  manifestation 
of  Christ's  Kingdom." — For  God  hath 
avenged  you  on  her.  The  translation  here 
involves  an  idea  which  does  not  belong  to  the 
passage  in  the  original.  The  revision  trans- 
lates properly,  and  gives  the  true  sense.  It  is 
not  "vengeance"  upon  the  Roman  Babylon 
for  which  even  they  call  who  have  suffered 
most  at  her  hands.     It  is  that  righteousness 


254 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XVIII. 


21  And  a  mighty  angel  took  up  a  stone  like  a  great 
mill-stone,  and  cast  il  into  the  sea,  saying,  "Thus  with 
violence  shall  that  great  city  Babylon  be  thrown  down, 
and  'shall  be  found  no  more  at  all. 

22  •'AuJ  the  voice  of  harpers,  and  musicians,  and  of 
pipers,  and  trumpeters,  shall  be  heard  no  more  at  all  in 
thee ;  and  no  craftsman,  of  whatsoever  craft  he  be,  shall 


21  And  1  a  strong  angel  took  up  a  stone  as  it  were  a 
great  millstone,  and  cast  it  into  the  sea,  saying, 
Thus  with  a  mighty  fall  shall  Babylon,  the  great 
city,  be  cast  down,  and  shall  be  found'  no  more  at  all. 

22  And  the  voice  of  harpers  and  minstrels  and  flute- 
players  and  trumpeters  shall  be  heard  no  more  at  all 
in  thee;   and   no  craftsman,  -of  whatsoever  craft, 


t  Jer.  51:64....6ch.  12:8;  16:  20.  ...c  Isa.  21:  8;  Jer.  7:34;  16:  9;  25:  10;  Ezek.  26: 

ite-s  omii.  of  whatsoever  craft. 


'1  Gr.  one 2  Some  aDcient  auttaori- 


and  justice  may  be  vindicated  in  the  case  of  a 
power  by  whom  both  have  been,  during  long 
ages  of  oppression  and  wrong,  outraged  and 
set  at  nought.     It  is,  to  use  again  the  words 
of  the  writer  just  quoted,  such  a  rejoicing  as 
"all    holy    men,    whether    on    earth    or    in 
heaven,"  experience,   "  when  any  great  evil 
is  swept  away."     It  may  be  proper  to  connect 
this  verse,  in  its  exposition,  with  the  prayer 
of  the  martyrs  in  6:  10.     Again,   in  16:  5-7, 
there  is  mention  made  of  that  righteous  judg- 
ment of  God  which  visits  upon  persecuting 
powers  the  blood  they  have  shed.     The  re- 
visers use   a  somewhat  peculiar  phraseology 
in  the  literal  rendering  of  the  Greek  :     "  God 
hath  judged  your  judgment  on  her."     The 
exact  force  of  the  words  "judged  your  judg- 
ment," is  not  clear.     The  Speaker's  Commen- 
tary suggests,   "(1)  Either   'what   you   have 
judged,'  or  'what  she  hath  judged  concern- 
ing you.'     (2)  'What  seemed  right  to  you.'  " 
Hengstenberg's   paraphrase   is,    "The    doom 
which  she  pronounced  upon  you,  the  judg- 
ment which  she  held  over  you,  your  condem- 
nation"; as  in  ch.  13:  10:     "He  that  leadeth 
into  captivity  shall  go  into  captivity  :  he  that 
killeth    with  the  sword  must  be  killed  with 
the  sword."     This  is,   perhaps,  on  the  whole, 
the  most  likely  interpretation.     There   may 
be  an  allusion  to  what  we  have  in  ch.  17 :  16: 
"And  the  ten  horns  which  thou  sawest,  and 
the  beast,  these  shall   hate   the   harlot,    and 
shall  make  here  desolate  and  naked,  and  shall 
burn   her   utterly   with  fire.''     By   this  fear- 


be,   "a  certain   strong  angel."      It  is  to  be 
noticed  how   exactly   the    symbolism,   here, 
copies  that  of  predictions  against   Babylon, 
Tyre,  and  other  doomed  cities,  in   the   Old 
Testament.     Thus,  in  Jeremiah  51 :  60-64,  we 
read  how  Jeremiah  "wrote  in  a  book  all  the 
evil  that  should  come  upon   Babylon,"  and 
said  to  Seraiah,  a  prince  of  the  king's  court, 
"when  thou  comest  to  Babylon,  and  shalt  see, 
and  shalt  read  all  these  words,"  then— when 
thou  hast  made  an  end  of  this  book — "thou 
shalt  bind  a  stone  to  it,  and  cast  it  into  the 
midst  of  Euphrates ;  and  thou  shalt  say.  Thus 
.shall  Babylon  sink,  and  shall  not  rise  from 
the  evil  I  will  bring  upon  her."     The  sym- 
bolical action  thus  described  is  reproduced  in 
the  present  passage  as  a  picture  of  the  doom 
of  mystical   Babylon.— Saying,  Thus  with 
violence   shall   that   great  city  Babylon 
be  thrown  down,  and  shall  be  found  no 
more  at  all.    The  imagery  here,  while  pre- 
senting the  same  general  idea  as  that  in  pre- 
vious verses,  has  a  marked  difference  in  form. 
The  ruined    Babylon    has   before   been    de- 
scribed  as   a    desolated    city,   its   walls    and 
dwellings  thrown   prostrate  or  burned  with 
fire,  and  completely  forsaken  of  inhabitants. 
In  the  sense  of  such  a  ruin  and  a  desolation, 
the  city  may  be  said  to  still  survive.     In  the 
verses  now  before  us,  however,  the  imagery 
implies  a  complete  and  final  destruction;  as 
when  a  great  stone,  cast  into  the  sea,  sinks  out 
of  sight,  and  is  "found  no  more  at  all."     The 
two  representations  are  not  inconsistent  with 


ful  manner  of  death  many  and  many  a  j  each  other,  as  might  possibly  seem  at  first 
martyr  perished  at  the  hands  of  the  Koman  |  sight.  A  pile  of  ruins,  or  a  desolated  site, 
harlot.  By  the  same  shall  she  perish.  Her  j  with  here  and  there  some  relic  of  former 
violent  dealing  shall  come  down  upon  her  magnificence,  is  not  a  city.  Those  who  now 
own  head.  j  visit  the  supposed  site   of  ancient    Babylon, 

21-24.  The  Stone  Cast  into  the  Sea. 


21.  And  a  mighty  angel  took  up  a  stone 
like  a  great  mill-stone,  and  cast  it  into 
the  sea.  Literally,  the  words  are,  "one 
strong  angel."  Winer  (i8:9)  seems  to  con- 
sider the  numeral  "one"  (ets),  in  places  like 
this,  as  used  for  the  indefinite  pronoun  (W?), 
"a  certain  one."     Thus  the  rendering  would 


whether  right  or  wrong  in  their  belief  that 
there  the  city  once  stood,  find  no  Babylon 
there.  Babylon,  in  truth  "is  found  no  more 
at  all,"  nor  shall  it  ever  be  again.  Such  is 
the  doom  appointed  to  the  Roman  Anti- 
christ. 

22,  23.  And  the  voice  of  harpers,  and 
musicians,  and  of  pipers  [flute-players], 


Ch.  XVIII.] 


REVELATION. 


255 


be  found  anymore  in  thee;   and  the  sound  of  a  mill- 
stone shall  be  heard  no  more  at  all  iu  thee; 

23  "And  the  light  of  a  candle  shall  shine  no  more  at 
all  in  thee;  'and  the  voice  of  the  bridegroom  and  of 
the  bride  shall  be  heard  no  more  at  all  in  thee :  for  <^thy 
merchants  were  the  great  men  of  the  earth;  ''for  by 
thy  sorceries  were  all  nations  deceived. 

24  And  «in  her  was  found  the  blood  of  prophets, 
andof  saints,  and  of  all  that /were  slain  upon  the  earth. 


shall  be  found  any  more  at  all  in  thee;  and  the  voice 
of  a  millstone  shall  be  heard  no  more  at  all  in  thee; 

23  and  the  light  of  a  lamp  shall  shine  no  more  at  all  in 
thee:  and  the  voice  of  the  bridegroom  and  of  the 
bride  shall  lie  heard  no  more  at  all  in  thee:  for  thy 
merchants  were  the  princes  of  the  earth;   for  with 

24  thy  .sorcery  were  all  the  nations  deceived.  And  in 
her  was  found  the  blood  of  pro))licts  and  of  saints, 
and  of  all  that  have  been  slain  upon  the  earth. 


aJer.  25:  10....5  Jer.  7:31;  16:9;  25:  10;  33:  11....C  Isa.  23:8....(i2  Kings  9  :  22;  Nah.  3  :  4  ;  ch.  17  :  2,  5....ech.  17: 

/Jer.  51:49. 


and  trumpeters,  shall  be  heard  no  more 
at  all  in  thee.  We  may  compare  the  highly 
poetical  language  in  Isaiah  (24:8);  "The mirth 
of  tabrets  ceaseth,  the  noise  of  them  that  re- 
joice endeth,  the  joy  of  the  harp  ceaseth." — 
And  no  craftsman,  of  whatsoever  craft 
he  be,  shall  be  found  any  more  in  thee. 
All  the  sounds  of  busy  industry  have  sunk 
into  utter  silence. — And  the  sound  of  a 
mill-stone  shall  be  heard  no  more  at  all 
in  thee,  and  the  light  of  a  candle  shall 
shine  no  more  at  all  in  thee.  Family  life 
has  wholly  ceased ;  the  cheerful  lights  of 
home,  "the  sound  of  the  grinding,"  all  that 
once  betokened  life  with  its  enjoyments  and 
occupations. — And  the  voice  of  the  bride- 
groom and  of  the  bride  shall  be  heard 
no  more  at  all  in  thee.  Of  Jerusalem  it 
had  anciently  been  said:  "I  will  take  from 
them  the  voice  of  mirth,  and  the  voice  of 
gladness,  the  voice  of  the  bridegroom,  and  the 
voice  of  the  bride,  the  sound  of  the  millstones, 
and  the  light  of  the  candle"  (Jer. 25:io).  No 
imagery  could  more  vividly  set  forth  the  ruin 
of  a  busy  and  populous  city. — For  thy  mer- 
chants were  the  great  men  [the  princes] 
of  the  earth.  The  causes  of  this  utter  and 
final  overthrow  are  now  resumed  and  sum- 
marized ;  allusion  being  first  made  to  the 
greatness  of  Babylon,  and  to  the  sources  of  that 
ill-used  prosperity  by  which  it  had  been  built 
up. — For  by  thy  sorceries  were  all  nations 
deceived.  Here  is  her  guilt.  "  We  must 
understand,"  says  the  note  in  Carpenter,  "her 
artful  policy,  her  attractiveness,  and  the  se- 
ductions by  which  she  drew  into  the  meshes 
of  her  worldliness  and  sin  all  the  nations 
around." 

24.  And  in  her  was  found  the  blood 
of  prophets,  and  of  saints,  and  of  all 
that  were  slain  upon  the  earth.  We  are 
reminded  of  the  passage  in  Matt.  23:  3.5,  36: 
"That  upon  you  [upon  Jerusalem]  may  come 
all  the  righteous  blood  shed  upon  the  earth, 
from  the  blood  of  righteous  Abel   unto  the 


blood  of  Zacharias,  whom  ye  slew  between 
the  porch  and  the  altar.  Yerily  I  say  unto 
you.  All  these  things  shall  come  upon  this 
generation."  Auberlen  reminds  us  that  in 
speaking  of  the  murders  done  by  "the  Harlot 
of  the  New  Covenant,"  the  Roman  Bab3'lon, 
we  must  not  "confine  our  thoughts  to  cases 
like  those  of  Huss,  the  Waldenses,  the 
Huguenots,  the  British  ^Martyrs,  etc.,  or  the 
martyrs  which  are  yet  future;  but  bear  in 
mind  the  words,  'Whoso  hateth  his  brother 
is  a  murderer'  (iJohn3:i5).  AV^herever  true, 
faithful  Christians  are  neglected  and  oppressed 
by  the  rulers  of  the  church  ....  there  we 
commit  murder  against  the  saints  of  God." 
In  the  bloodj^-minded  and  murdering 
"church"  of  the  Apostasy,  the  persecutions 
of  Antichrist  in  all  former  ages  culminated. 
Indeed,  so  was  the  antichristian  spirit  inten- 
sified in  this  latest  manifestation  of  that  spirit, 
and  with  such  hideous  accumulation  were  the 
deeds  so  inspired  multiplied,  that  it  is  scarcely 
a  figure  of  speech  to  say,  as  is  said  here  :  "  In 
her  was  found  the  blood  of  prophets,  and  of 
saints,  and  of  all  that  have  been  slain  upon 
the  earth." 

GENERAL   COMMEXTS. 

We  must  once  more  call  attention  to  the 
fact,  and  emphasize  it,  that  what  we  find  in 
this  chapter,  is  Apocalyptic  imager^',  through- 
out. Those  who  treat  it  as  descriptive  of  the 
Roman  city  itself,  overlook  this;  besides  that, 
the  visitations  upon  Rome  under  the  northern 
barbarians,  though  severe,  fell  far  short  of 
realizing  the  intense  sj'mbolism  of  this  chap- 
ter. Great  as  were  the  calamities  suffered  by 
the  city,  either  then  or  at  any  other  time,  they 
never  approached  the  realitj'  of  what  we  have 
here  set  forth.  A  similar  objection  lies  against 
the  explanation  of  Elliott,  in  Horce  Apoca- 
lypticce,  who,  including  with  this  chapter  the 
nineteenth,  also,  as  far  as  ver.  4,  and  viewing 
the  fulfillment  as  still  future,  draws  these  con- 
clusions from  the  whole:  "(1)  The  destruction 
of  Rome,  the  mystic  Babylon  (comprehend- 


256 


KEVELATION. 


[Ch.  XVIII. 


ing  not  only  the  city  and  the  ecclesiastical 
state;  but  probably  the  political  tripartition, 
and  unexpectedly,  be  effected  by  an  earth- 
quake and  volcanic  fire.  (2)  Immediately 
before  this  event  there  will  be  a  great  diffu- 
sion of  religious  light,  and  a  sounding  forth 
of  strong  appeals  on  the  character  and  immi- 
nent doom,  both  of  Rome  and  the  Popedom, 
alike  in  the  church  and  in  the  world.  (3) 
The  Jews  will  probably  at,  or  just  after,  this 
catastrophe,  be  converted  (indicated  by  the 
Hebrew  Hallelujah — this  being  the  first  intro- 
duction of  a  word  from  that  language  in 
praise).  (4)  Down  to  the  time  figured  by 
this  chorus  (a  song  represented  as  being  in 
heaven),  no  translation  of  the  living  saints  or 
resurrection  of  the  departed  will  have  taken 
place."  Stuart,  also,  in  some  parts  of  his 
comment  on  this  chapter,  seems  to  understand 
by  Babylon  the  city  of  Rome.  Elliott's  view, 
while  it  is  open  to  the  objection  of  losing 
sight,  in  some  places,  of  the  symbolical  char- 
acter of  the  whole  chapter,  which  makes  it 
impossible  that  any  literal  and  actual  city 
should  be  understood,  encumbers  the  exposi- 
tion with  fanciful  interpretations,  like  those 
which  have  been  so  much  the  bane  of  Apoca- 
lyptic exposition  from  the  beginning. 

We  have  already  called  attention  to  the 
evident  fact  that  the  woman  of  chapter  seven- 
teen is  the  city  of  chapter  eighteen.  The 
angel  says  to  John,  distinctly  (n:i8):  "The 
woman  which  thou  sawest  is  that  great  city 
which  reigneth  over  the  kings  of  the  earth." 
The  difference  between  the  vision  in  chap- 
ter seventeen  and  that  in  chapter  eighteen, 
maj'  be  stated  in  the  following  particulars: 
(1)  The  change  of  symbolism,  so  that  the 
woman  in  the  one  chapter  becomes  the  city 
in  the  other;  (2)  the  fact  that  the  judgment 
announced  in  the  former  is  more  dwelt  upon, 
in  the  latter,  with  more  detailed  description; 
(8)  the  change  of  imagery  descriptive  of  this 
judgment,  a  change  made  necessary  by  the 
change  of  the  woman-symbol  to  that  of  a 
city;  and  (4)  the  fact  that,  while  in  chapter 
seventeen  the  instruments  of  Babylon's  over- 
throw are  indicated,  in  chapter  eighteen  the 
nature  and  consequences  of  that  overthrow 
are  more  dwelt  upon. 

As  to  the  identification  of  the  woman  in  the 
one  chapter,  and  so  of  the  city  in  the  other— 
the  clue  seems  given  us  in  the  fact  that  this 
symbol  of  a  woman  is  employed  at  all.     So 


far  as  we  know,  commentators  are  agreed  that 
by  the  woman  in  chapter  twelve,  mother  of 
the  Man-child,  driven  by  the  dragon  into  the 
wilderness,  must  be  understood  the  Church, 
in  that  large  sense  which  makes  it  identical 
with  the  spiritual  Kingdom  of  God  in  the 
world,  embracing  all  times,  and  the  Lord's 
true  people  of  every  age  and  name.  In  that 
same  wilderness  appears  (ch.  n.3-6)  another 
woman,  evidently  assuming  the  character  of 
that  celestial  fugitive  whose  flight  thither 
had  before  been  represented  on  the  Apoca- 
lyptic scene.  We  have  refused  to  give  to  this 
sinister  appearance  the  name  "church,"  with 
any  manner  of  qualifying  epithet.  We  do 
not  believe  "the  Church  of  the  living  God" 
ever  was,  or  ever  could  be,  "apostate."  There 
was  a  church  in  the  wilderness  during  those 
ages  of  darkness  and  suffering;  but  this 
woman  upon  the  seven-headed  beast,  drunk 
with  the  blood  of  saints,  was  not  that  church. 
They,  rather,  who  suffered  at  her  hands, 
whose  blood  she  drank,  represented  that 
church — a  fugitive  church,  "persecuted"  by 
"the  dragon,"  who  casts  out  of  his  mouth 
floods  of  worldly  confusion  and  turbulence, 
"that  he  might  cause  her  to  be  carried  away 
by  the  flood  ";  yet  with  her  "two  wings  of  a 
great  eagle"  flying  away  to  the  "place  pre- 
pared of  God"  where  she  is  "nourished,"  as 
Elijah  was  in  his  own  wilderness.  The 
woman,  "the  mother  of  harlots  and  abomina- 
tions of  the  earth  "  is  not  this  woman,  yet  she 
pretends  to  be,  and  persuades  many  that  she 
is ;  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  even  yet  sincere 
persons  find  it  difficult  to  distinguish  between 
them.  Who  can  this  woman  be,  this  sorcerer 
and  harlot,  if  not  the  so-called  Church  of 
Rome  ?  This  is  the  Babylon  of  chapter  17 :  5, 
and  the  Babylon,  also,  of  chapter  18:  2.  "The 
woman  is  that  great  city  which  reigneth  over 
the  kings  of  the  earth." 

The  criminal  association  of  the  woman  with 
"the  kings  of  the  earth,"  and  her  "reigning 
over  them,"  find  historical  parallels  in  what 
is  recorded  of  papal  Rome  during  all  the  cen- 
turies of  its  disastrous  supremacy.  She  was 
their  mistress  in  a  double  sense:  she  ruled 
them,  and  at  the  same  time  wantoned  with 
them.  Her  conduct  was  perfectly  that  of  the 
heartless  courtesan,  by  turns  arrogant  and 
seductive;  now  training  her  lovers  after  her 
by  every  manner  of  seductive  wile,  and  now 
making  them  the  victims  of  her  termagant 


Ch.  XVIIL] 


REVELATION. 


257^ 


abuse,  or  of  her  capricious  exactions.  The 
subserviency  of  kings  to  popes,  during  those 
centuries,  was  only  equaled  by  the  corrupt 
terms  upon  which  their  alliances  were  framed, 
and  the  utterly  unprincipled  ways  in  which 
pope  and  king  conspired  against  every  inter- 
est of  humanity  and  of  religion.  Dark  chap- 
ters in  history',  indeed,  are  they  in  which  these 
things  are  chronicled.  Like  to  this  in  its 
significance  is  the  imagery  of  our  present 
chapter.  The  seductive  woman  and  the 
luxurious  city,  filling  her  markets  with  the 
costly  products  of  every  zone,  and  through 
her  extravagance  and  her  lavish  self-indulg- 
ence both  exciting  and  gratifying  the  spirit 
of  a  covetous  commerce — these  answer  to  each 
other  in  every  way.  Both  alike  represent  the 
pernicious  influences  that  went  abroad  over 
the  world  from  the  papal  centre,  and  illustrate 
the  misciiiefs  of  a  system  in  which  the  worst 
of  ends  were  sought  by  the  worst  of  means. 

That  Jinal  destruction  of  Babylon,  of  which 
this  chapter  contains  such  a  vivid  description, 
must  be  still  future.  The  premonitions  of  it, 
however,  already  appear;  indeed,  the  pro- 
gressive fulfillment  is  taking  place  before  our 
eyes.  We  must  not  be  misled  by  any  im- 
pression that  what  is  Apocalyptically  repre- 
sented as  stidden,  is  sudden  in  the  same  way 
that  things  are  so  to  us.  With  the  Lord  "a 
thousand  years  are  as  one  day."  Babylon 
really  "fell,"  when  about  the  beginning  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  such  a  tremendous 
defection  occurred  as  we  have  already  noticed ; 
her  adherents  forsaking  her  by  whole  king- 
doms at  a  time.  Within  the  life-time  of  a 
man,  the  enormous  despotism  which  shadowed 
Europe  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  North 
Sea,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Russian 
border,  was  reduced  to  such  extremities,  that 
only  desperate  expedients  saved  it  from  utter 
overthrow.  Indeed,  the  parallel  between  this 
system  of  corrupt  ecclesiasticism,  and  a  great, 
luxurious  and  wicked  city,  brought  by  its 
own  excesses  to  a  condition  where  all  its 
greatness  is  mere  hollowness  and  show,  was 
perfect.  To  this  Bellarmine,  himself  a  Roman- 
ist writer,  in  effect  testifies.  "For  some 
years,"  he  says,  "before  Lutheran  and  Cal- 
vinistic  heresies  were  published,  there  was  not 
(as  contemporary  authors  testify)  any  severity 
in  ecclesiiistical  judicatories,  any  discipline 
with  regard  to  morals,  any  knowledge  of 
sacred    literature,   any  reverence   for  divine 


things :  There  was  not  alnioHt  any  religion 
remaining.^'  (Quoted  by  Robertson,  in  his 
History  of  Charles  the  Fifth).  A  system- 
whose  claim  to  the  reverence  and  obedience 
of  mankind  is  in  its  spiritual  character,  holds 
a  most  absurd  position,  when  it  insists  upon, 
that  claim  while  there  is  in  it  "not  almost 
any  religion  remaining."  Thenceforth  its 
appeal  must  be  to  the  superstition  of  the 
ignorant,  or  the  interest  of  the  worldly  and. 
unprincipled.  It  was  a  fact  fatal  to  Roman- 
ism that  these  two  classes  by  no  means  em- 
braced the  whole  of  mankind ;  that  there  was 
enough  of  religious  earnestness  left  to  test 
thoroughly  the  claim  to  embody  in  itself  the_ 
whole  of  Christianity  of  a  system  out  of 
which,  by  the  confession  of  its  own  most 
intelligent  champions,  whatever  of  Christi- 
anity it  may  once  have  possessed,  had  almost 
wholly  departed.  So  it  came  to  pass  that,  in 
the  first  onset  of  the  Reformation,  it  seemed 
as  if  this  showy  and  pretentious,  yet  rotten 
and  hollow  system  of  hierarchical  despotism 
was  on  the  point  of  being  crushed.  "The 
victory  of  Protestantism,"  says  Macaulay^ 
"was  rapid  and  decisive.  .  .  .  About  half  a 
century  after  the  great  separation,  there  were 
throughout  the  North  [of  Europe]  Protestant 
governments  and  Protestant  nations."  {Essay 
on  "Ranke's  History  of  the  Popes'^).  From 
this  well-nigh  annihilating  blow  Rome  has 
really  never  recovered.  The  measures  of 
Pius  v.,  a  ruthless  and  resolute  man,  who  set 
himself  with  determined  purpose,  and  with, 
all  the  art  and  craft  of  a  true  Italian,  to  stem 
the  tide  of  defeat,  and  change  the  fortunes 
of  the  field;  the  co-operation  with  him  of. 
Philip  II.,  of  Spain,  and  of  the  Guises  and 
Lorraines  in  France;  the  institution  of  the 
Order  of  the  Jesuits,  and  the  founding  of  the. 
Inquisition — by  such  measures  and  instru- 
ments as  these  a  reaction  was  effected,  and 
some  of  the  ground  lost  seemed  for  a  time 
recovered.  But  as  we  look  back  over  the, 
history  of  those  centuries,  we  perceive  in  the 
Papacy,  as  shown  in  another  like  connection, 
not  a  power  with  vitality'  unimpaired,  stand- 
ing up  resolutely  and  successfully  against 
formidable  assaults;  but  a  power  doomed  and 
already  defeated,  desperately  rallying  its 
shattered  strength  in  a  struggle  already  hope- 
less, and  by  its  furious  efforts  only  hastening 
its  own  destruction.  The  Inquisition  was  long 
a  terror;    but  it  was  far  more  a  reproach  to 


258 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIX. 


CHAPTEK   XIX. 


AND  after  these  things  "I  heard  a  great  voice  of  much 
people  in  heaven,  saying,  Allelulia;  'Salvation, 
and  glory,  and  honour,  and  power,  unto  the  Lord  our 
Ood : 

2  For  "true  and  righteous  are  his  judgments;  for  he 
hath  judged  the  great  whore,  which  did  corrupt  the 
earth  with  her  fornication,  and  "hath  avenged  the 
blooil  of  his  servants  at  her  hand. 


1  After  these  things  I  heard  as  it  were  a  great 
voice  of  a  great  multitude  in  heaven,  saying.  Halle- 
lujah;   SaUation,  and   glory,  and   power,  belong  to 

2  our  God:  for  true  and  rigliteous  are  his  judgments; 
for  he  hathjudged  the  great  harlot,  who  did  corrupt 
the  earth  with  ner  fornication,  and  he  hath  avenged 


och.  11:  15....6ch.  4:  11;  7:  10,  VI;  12  :  10.  ...c  ch.  15  :  3  ;  16:  7.... d  Deut.  »2  :  43  ;  ch.6:  10;  18:  20. 


the  system  in  whose  support  an  instrument  so 
hideous  could  be  used,  and  has  in  the  end 
wrought  far  more  mischief  to  the  power  that 
employed  it,  than  to  that  against  which  it 
was  used.  The  Jesuits  have  served  the  evil 
cause  to  which  they  devoted  themselves,  body 
and  soul,  with  most  extraordinary  fidelity ; 
but  they  have,  time  after  time,  made  them- 
selves so  intolerable  by  their  unprincipled 
cour.ses,  as  that  Koman  Catholic  princes  and 
republics  have  been  compelled  to  cast  them 
out  as  a  menace  and  a  disgrace.  The  persist- 
encj'  with  which  the  popes  themselves  have 
clung  to  those  pretensions  which,  even  in  such 
a  time  as  that  of  the  middle  ages  they  found 
it  difficult  to  enforce,  assuming,  even  in  this 
nineteenth  centurj',  to  be  supreme  over  all 
governments,  and  to  have  a  right  to  rule  alike 
the  counsels  and  the  consciences  of  rulers  and 
peoples;  the  measures  adopted  by  them,  or 
under  their  direction,  such  as  the  proclama- 
tion of  the  dogma  of  Papal  Infallibility  by 
the  Vatican  Council  of  1809-70,  attempting 
thus  to  force  upon  an  age  of  enlightenment 
and  free  thought,  doctrines  which  not  even 
mediajval  subserviency  would  accept — in  all 
these  ways,  Popery  has,  by  its  struggles  for 
self  recovery,  simply  been  making  more  com- 
plete and  hopeless  its  actual  downfall. 

There  is  a  prophecy  in  these  things,  them- 
selves. They  presage  for  the  Koman  hie- 
rarchy a  complete  and  final  overthrow.  How 
far  in  the  future  this  ultimate  event  may  lie, 
no  one  of  us  can  say ;  but  that  it  is  sure  to 
come,  the  signs  of  the  present  time  unite  with 
Ai)Ocalyptic  testimony  in  declaring. 


THE   HEAVENLY  TRIUMPH. 

1-4.  A  Song  of  Deliverance. 

1.  And  after  these  things.  "And"  is 
rightly  omitted. — I  heard  a  great  voice  of 
ranch  people  in  heaven.  Alford  says,  upon 
this:  ".\s  each  of  the  great  events  and  judg- 
ments of  the  book  is  celebrated  by  its  song  of 


praise  in  heaven,  so  this  also;  but  more 
solemnly  and  formally  than  the  others,  seeing 
that  this  is  the  great  accomplishment  of  God's 
judgment  on  the  enemy  of  his  church."  He 
then  instances,  as  examples  of  heavenly  praise 
on  like  occasions,  ch.  4:  8-11,  "introducing 
the  whole  heavenly  scenery";  ch.  5:  9-14, 
"celebrating  the  worthiness  of  the  Lamb  to 
open  the  book  ";  chs.  7:  10-12;  11 :  15-18,  "on 
the  close  fulfillment  of  God's  judgments  at 
the  soundingof  the  seventh  trumpet";  ch.15: 
3,  "on  the  introduction  of  the  series  of  the 
vials";  and  ch.  16:5,  "on  the  retributive 
justice  shown  in  the  pouring  out  of  the  third 
vial."  A  like  song  of  praise  now  celebrates 
the  deli  verance  experienced  in  the  doom  visited 
upon  Babylon.  The  amended  Greek  text  of 
the  words  quoted  above  would  read,  "as  it 
were  {m)  a  great  voice." — Saying,  Alleluia: 
salvation,  and  glory,  and  honour,  and 
power,  unto  the  Lord  our  God.  The 
amended  reading  omits  the  words  "honor" 
and  "the  Lord."  In  the  amended  text,  also, 
following  the  Sinaitic  and  Alexandrine  man- 
uscripts, in.stead  of  "unto  our  God"  (t<P  eecp 
riiJiCiv),  we  find  "of  our  God"  (toO  fleoO  ^iuwi/). 
The  form  differs,  therefore,  from  what  we 
have,  for  example,  in  7:  12,  where  "unto  our 
Gf>d"  is  the  rendering  of  the  best  Greek. 
Here  it  is  "of  our  God,"  or  "are  our  God's," 
meaning  that  these  terms  of  praise,  "salva- 
tion," "glory,"  "power,"  are  his,  not  ours; 
or,  as  the  revisers  give  it,  "belong  to  our 
God."  The  whole  work  of  deliverance  being 
wrought  by  his  pov^er,  the  praise  and' the 
glory  of  it  are  his. 

2.  For  true  and  righteous  are  his  .iudg- 
ments.  To  holy  beings,  and  also  to  beings 
regenerated  and  redeemed,  God's  truth  and 
righteousness  are  supreme  occasions  of  re- 
joicing praise.  On  these,  as  on  eternal  foun- 
dations, the  stability  of  the  moral  universe 
and  the  fidelity  of  all  moral  beings  must  for- 
ever depend.  In  that  which  is  the  immediate 
occasion  of  this  song  of  praise,  they  are  illus- 


Ch.  XIX.] 


REVELATION. 


259 


3  And  again  they  said,  Allelulia.  And  <"her  smoke 
rose  up  foi-  ever  and  ever. 

4  And  'tlie  tour  and  twenty  elders  and  the  four 
beasts  fell  down  and  worshipped  Ciod  that  sat  on  the 
throne, saying,  ''Amen:  Alleluia. 

5  And  a  voice  came  out  of  the  throne,  saving,  't  Praise 
our  tiod,  all  ye  his  servants,  and  ye  that  fear  him, '  both 
small  and  great. 


3  the  blood  of  his  servants  at  her  hand.  And  a  second 
time  they  I  say,  Hallelujah.     And  her  s«i..ke  noeth 

4  up  2  for  ever  and  ever.  And  the  lour  and  twenty 
elders  and  the  four  living  creatures  fell  down  and 
worshipped  God  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  saying, 

5  Amen  ;  Hallelujah.  And  a  voice  came  forth  from 
the  throne,  saying.  Give  praise  to  our  (iod,  all  ye  his 
servants,  ye  that  fear  him,  the  small  and  the  great. 


ilsa.34.10;  ch.  14:11;  18:  9,  18....6  oh.  4:  4,  6, 10;  5:  U....cl  Chion.  16:  36  ;  Neh.5:13:  8:6;  ch.  5  :  14....d  Pa   134- 1- 
lib:  I e  oh.  11:  18;  20:  12. 1  Gr.  have  said 2  Gr.  unto  the  ageeo/the  agee.  ' 


trated  anew.— For  he  hath  judged  the 
great  whore,  which  did  corrupt  the  earth 
with  her  fornications,  and  hath  avenged 
the  blood  of   his  servants  at  her  hand. 

The  theme  of  this  great  song  ' '  of  much  people 
in  heaven  "  is  therefore  the  final  overthrow 
and  destruction  of  that  evil  power  which 
during  so  many  centuries  had  made  the  earth 
the  scene  of  its  ravages.  This  is,  then,  a  song 
celebrating  the  world's  deliverance  from  that 
power.  As  the  "harlot"  is  specifically  named, 
we  must  understand  the  reference  to  be  to  that 
form  of  the  antichristian  manifestation  which 
is  described  in  the  two  immediately  preceding 
chapters.  The  "beast"  and  "the  false  pro- 
phet," other  forms  of  the  same  manifestation, 
are  mentioned,  and  their  fall  described  in 
ver.  20,  below. 

3.  And  again  [the  second  time]  they  said. 
Alleluia.  "This  last 'Alleluia,' "  says  Car- 
penter, "clearly  belongs  to  the  song,  or 
chorus.  It  is  separated  from  the  body  of  it 
by  the  descriptive  words,  '  And  again  they 
said.'  "     He  arranges  thus  : 

Alleluia! 
The  salvation,  and  the  glory,  and  the  power 

Are  our  God's, 
Because  true  and  righteous  are  his  judgments; 
Because  he  judged  the  great  harlot  who  corrupted  the 

earth  with  her  fornication. 
And  avenged  the  blood  of  his  servants  out  of  her  hand. 

Alleluia. 
— And  her  smoke  rose  up  forever  and 
ever.  The  imagery  here  rests  upon  that  of 
chapter  eighteen,  in  which  Babylon  appears 
as  a  city.  The  picture  it  presents  is  that  of 
such  a  city,  not  only  in  ruins,  but  smoking, 
as  a  vast  funeral  pile.  It  is  an  "eternal 
burning";  in  other  words,  the  ruin  is  final. 
It  is  not  as  when  the  flames  of  a  burnt  city  at 
last  die  down,  and  men  clear  away  the  charred 
timbers  and  the  blackened  stones,  preparatory 
to  a  rebuilding.  It  is,  rather,  as  if  the  flames 
were  never  to  lack  fuel,  but  forever  burn  on, 
making  all  restoration  and  rebuilding  eter- 
nally impossible.  So  with  great  Babylon.  So 
with  that  power  which  for  so  long  a  time  cor- 


rupted the  world  with  its  sorceries,  oppressed 
the  church,  and  wore  out  the  saints  of  the 
Most  High. 

4.  And  the  four  and  twenty  elders  and 
the  four  beasts  [living  rreaturrs]  fell  down 
and  worshipped  God  that  sat  [sitteth']  on 
the  throne,  saying.  Amen:  Alleluia.  By 
the  "much  people"  in  ver.  1,  must  be  under- 
stood the  great  body  of  those  who  are  subjects 
of  this  deliverance— who  have  suffered  at  the 
hand  of  the  power  now  brought  to  its  final 
overthrow,  and  in  their  song  celebrate  that 
great  event.  "The  four  and  twenty  elders  " 
appear  as  the  representatives  of  this  body 
of  redeemed  ones  in  that  permanent  symbol- 
ism which  so  frequently  re-appears  in  the 
successive  visions.  "The  four  living  crea- 
tures," as  before  explained,  represent  that 
"creation"  which  "groaneth  and  travailcth 
in  pain  together,"  waiting  for  the  final  "  adop- 
tion, to  wit,  the  redemption"  of  God's  elect 
people.  Both  of  these  unite  in  the  same  song 
of  deliverance  with  their  melodious  "Amen" 
and  their  responsive  "Alleluia." 

5-8.  A  Heavenly  Chorus. 

5.  And  a  voice  came  out  of  the  throne, 
("/orM/rom  the  throne"  is  better),  saying, 
Praise  our  God,  all  ye  his  servants,  and 
ye  that  fear  him,  small  and  great.  The 
language  used,  in  this  call  to  praise,  shows 
that  the  voice,  though  it  came  from  the  throne, 
cannot  have  been  the  voice  of  God.  It  is  not 
a  divine  being,  evidently,  who  sa^-s:  "Praise 
our  God."  Perhaps  the  expression  "forth 
from  the  throne,"  is  not  to  be  taken  too  liter- 
ally. The  Speaker's  Commentary  under- 
stands the  preposition  "from"  (<in6),  as  "de- 
noting direction  merely,  not  the  source  of  the 
voice."  Hengstenberg,  quite  incorrectly, 
understands  the  voice  as  of  "him  that  sitteth 
on  the  throne,"  and  supposes,  strangely 
enough,  that  this  is  Christ.  The  Speaker's 
Commentary  notes  that  Christ  nowhere  em- 
ploys the  expression,  ^^our  God."  In  John 
20:  17,  he  says,  "my  God,"  and  adds:  "and 
your  God."     The  form  of  expression  implies, 


260 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIX. 


6  "And  I  heard  as  it  were  the  voice  of  a  great  multi- 
tude, aud  as  the  voice  of  many  waters,  and  as  the  voice 
of  mighty  thuuderiiigs, saying,  Allelulia:  fori-the  Lord 
Ood  omnipotent  reignetli. 

7  Let  us  be  glad  and  rejoice,  and  give  honour  to  him : 
for  «the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  is  come,  aud  his  wife 
hath  made  herself  ready. 


6  And  I  heard  as  it  were  the  voice  of  a  great  multi- 
tude, aud  as  the  voice  of  many  waters,  and  as  the 
voice  of  mighty   thunders,  saying,  Hallelujah:   for 

7  the  Lord  our  God,  the  Almighty,  reigneth.  Let  us 
rejoice  and  be  exceeding  glad,  and  let  us  give  the 
glory  unto  him:   for  the  marriage  of  the   Lamb  is 


a  Ezek.  1 :  24  ;  43  :  2  ;  ch.  14:2 h  ch.  11: 15.  17;  12:  10;  21:  22 c  Matt.  22:  2;  25  :  10  ;  2  Cor.  11 :  2  ;  Ephes.  5  :  32  ;  ch.  21 :  2,  9. 


there,  that  the  Father  is  his  God  in  a  sense 
different  from  tliat  in  which  he  is  "oz<r  God." 
For  him  to  use  the  latter  plirase  would  be  to 
make  hiinself  human.  This  he  never  does, 
in  any  other  sense  than  as  the  God-man. 
Bengei  thinks  the  voice  is  that  of  the  four 
living  creatures.  Diisterdieck  thinks  it  the 
voice  of  the  elders.  Clearly,  the  source  of 
the  voice  is  purposely  left  without  indication. 
Carpenter  understands  it  simply  as  coming 
"from  the  direction  of  the  throne,"  and 
thinks  it  "better  to  leave  it  indefinite." 
What  the  voice  utters  is  a  call  to  universal 
praise,  responsive  to  the  song  of  deliverance 
just  sung  by  those  in  whose  behalf  this  de- 
liverance has  been  wrought.  "All"  the 
"servants"  of  God  are  summoned  to  join  in 
this  responsive  chorus;  all  that  "fear  him, 
both  small  and  great."  The  call  embraces 
the  universe  of  holy  and  regenerated  being. 
6.  And  I  heard  as  it  were  the  voice  of 
a  great  multitude,  and  as  the  voice  of 
many  waters,  and  as  the  voice  of  mighty 
thunderings  [thunders].  The  description  is 
accumulative,  advancing  to  a  climax.  Or, 
perhaps,  we  may  say  that  the  chorus  itself 
swells  from  a  .sound  like  that  of  the  blended 
voices  of  a  great  multitude,  to  such  as  is 
heard  in  the  roar  of  seas,  and  at  last  in  the 
tremendous  peal  on  peal  of  "mighty  thun- 
ders." Thus  is  represented  to  us  the  interest  all 
heaven  feels  in  the  triumphs  of  God's  King- 
dom on  earth,  and  those  deliverances  which 
come  in  the  victories  of  his  grace  and  provi- 
dence.—Saying,  Allelulia,  for  the  Lord 
God  [th.e  Lord  our  God]  omnipotent  [the 
Almighty]  reigneth.  This  cannot  be  simply 
a  general  acknowledgment  that  God  reigns. 
It  is  a  thankful  and  joyful  recognition  of 
his  sovereignty  called  forth  by  recent  events, 
in  which  the  fact  has  found  signal  illustration. 
The  assertion  and  vindication  of  his  suprem- 
acy in  the  events  just  described,  culminating 
in  the  downfall  of  Babylon — this  it  is  that 
inspires  the  rapturous  and  triumphant  song. 
So  long  the  victory  of  truth  and  righteous- 
ness seemed  delayed  ;    so  long  the   blood  of 


the  martyrs  cried  to  heaven,  to  all  appearance, 
in  vain  ;  so  long  the  wicked  triumphed,  might 
prevailed  over  right,  evil  and  wrong  and 
error  seemed  to  carry  all  before  them;  while 
as  each  crisis  came  and  the  vindication  still 
tarried,  deriding  voices  cried:  "Where  is 
now  their  God?" — when  at  last  the  omnipo- 
tent arm  is  reached  forth,  and  it  is  seen  that 
it  is  God  himself  who  after  all  reigns — it  is  for 
the  entire  universe  of  holy  being  an  hour  of 
triumph  worthy  of  celebration  in  songs  tliat 
fill  heaven.  The  Greek  word  here  used  (e/Saai- 
Xfvcrev)  literally  translated,  would  read:  "hath 
become  king,"  [or,  "reigneth  as  king,"  i.e., 
showed  his  kingship,  his  kingly  power  which 
had  seamed  to  be  in  abeyance. — A.  H.]  It 
may  be  that  in  the  form  of  the  expression, 
the  fact  of  this  exertion  of  sovereign  power 
is  emphasized. 

7.  Let  us  be  glad  and  rejoice,  and  give 
honour  to  him,  for  the  marriage  of  the 
Lamb  is  come.  We  are  approaching,  now, 
some  of  those  questions,  touching  "the  last 
things,"  upon  which  the  Christian  world  is 
so  much  divided,  and  concerning  which  posi- 
tive conclusions  are  so  difficult,  perhaps  im- 
possible, of  realization.  Our  own  aim  will 
be  to  keep  close  to  the  text,  seeking  by  care- 
ful study  of  the  words  written,  in  themselves 
and  in  their  connection,  to  find  the  meaning 
of  what  is  thus  set  down.  What,  then,  is 
meant  by  "the  marriage  of  the  Lamb"?  The 
general  representation  of  the  intimate  and 
tender  relation  of  Christ  with  his  saved  peo- 
ple, under  the  figure  of  marriage,  is  made 
familiar  to  us  by  its  frequent  use,  alike  in  the 
Old  Testament,  and  in  the  New.  AVe  may 
instance  in  the  Old  Testament  that  beautiful 
pastoral,  "Solomon's  Song,"  and  in  the  New 
Testament,  the  marriage  of  the  king's  son  in 
Matt.  22:  2-14,  and  the  parable  of  the  ten 
virgins  in  Matt.  25:  1-13.  A  significant  pas- 
sage is  that  in  Eph.  5:  22-!i2,  where  Paul  bases 
on  this  analogy  important  teachings  as  to  the 
Christian  law  of  marriage  itself  In  all  these 
places,  save  one,  the  idesi  of  the  marriage  of 
Christ  with  his  church   is  that  of' a  relation 


Ch.  XIX.] 


REVELATION. 


261 


3  And  "to  her  was  granted  that  she  should  be  arrayed 
in  fine  linen,  clean  and  white:  'lor  the  tine  liueu  is  the 
righteousness  of  saints. 


8  come,  and  his  wife  hath  made  herself  ready.  And  )♦ 
was  given  unto  her  that  she  should  arrav  herself  in 
fine  linen,  bright  and  pure:  for  the  tine  "linen  is  the 


a  Ps.  45:  13,  U;  Ezek.  16:  10;  cb.  3  :  18 i  Pa.  132:9. 


already  formed,  not  of  one  yet  future;  the 
plain  implication  is  that  Christ,  in  the  very 
fat't  of  his  progressive  redeeming  work,  puts 
himself  in  this  relation  with  his  people,  they 
being  viewed,  in  the  imagery  thus  employed, 
in  the  oneness  of  their  fellowship  as  a  people, 
and  not  so  much  as  individuals.  In  one  of 
the  places  noted  above,  however,  the  parable 
of  the  virgins,  the  thought  seems  to  be  carried 
forward  to  the  end  of  the  Dispensation.  A 
difference  in  phraseology,  suggestive  of  this, 
may  be  noticed.  In  Matt.  2'2:  2,  describing 
the  marriage  of  the  king's  son,  we  read, 
"The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  likened" — the 
meaning  seeming  to  be  that  such  as  the  para- 
ble illustrates  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven  in  its 
present  and  progressive  character.  In  the 
parable  of  the  virgins  we  read,  "The  kingdom 
of  heaven  shall  then  be  likened" — implying 
that  at  the  time  of  what  is  mentioned  in  chap- 
ter twenty-four,  the  coming  of  the  Lord  to 
take  account  of  his  servants  as  to  the  use  made 
of  the  talents  committed  to  them,  that  which 
is  now  described,  namely,  likeness,  not  to  the 
marriage,  but  to  the  coming  of  the  bride- 
groom to  receive  his  bride,  and  to  the  mar- 
riage supper,  shall  be  true  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  It  seems  clear,  therefore,  that  the 
marriage  of  the  Lamb  is  presented  to  us  under 
two  distinct  aspects:  (1)  that  of  the  original 
institution  of  this  relation  between  Christ  and 
his  redeemed  people;  and  (2)  that  of  the  con- 
summation of  this  relation  at  the  end  of  that 
long  period  of  trial  and  ordeal  during  which 
his  elect  are  gathered  out  of  the  nations  of 
men,  and  when  the  hour  of  triumph  for  him 
and  for  them  at  last  comes.  In  other  words, 
the  distinction  is  between  the  mnrringe  (or 
betrothal,  in  that  age  equivalent  to  marriage), 
and  the  marriage  supper  (the  final  and  con- 
summating ceremonial).  Consistently  with 
this  distinction,  the  word  in  the  Greek,  in  the 
verse  now  studied  (^Aflei'),  which  in  both  our 
versions  is  translated,  "is  come,"  is  really  in 
a  past  tense,  and  would  be  rendered,  literally, 
^^came" — "  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  came" 
—apparently  pointing  to  what  has  already 
taken  place.  In  ver.  9,  below,  we  read, 
"Blessed  are  they  which  are  bidden  to  the 
marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb."     This  indi- 


cates something  to  occur  at  the  time  when 
this  prophecy  shall  be  fulfilled.  Between  the 
marriage,  in  Jewish  cust(mis  (or  betrothal, 
equivalent  to  marriage,  as  we  have  said),  a 
considerable  interval  occurred.  It  was  at 
"the  marriage  supper"  that  the  bridegroom 
received  full  possession  of  his  bride.  This 
supper  occurred  at  the  bridegroom's  own 
house,  to  which  the  bride  was  conducted  in 
festal  procession,  and  with  great  rejoicing. 
Keeping  all  this  in  mind,  we  may  the  more 
clearly  see  the  exact  force  of  the  words  before 
us.  At  the  time  to  which  we  are  now  brought 
down  in  the  progress  of  Apocal3'ptic  disclo- 
sure of  things  then  to  come,  "the  marriage 
of  the  Lamb,"  the  betrothal,  the  gathering 
of  his  elect,  has  been  fully  accomplished;  and 
the  time  for  "the  marriage  supper"  has  ar- 
rived.— And  his  wife  hath  made  herself 
ready.  Abbott,  in  his  commentary  upon 
Matt.  25:  1-13,  says:  "The  betrothal  was 
itself  a  much  more  solemn  act  than  with  us, 
and  was  often  accompanied  by  a  public  cere- 
monial. [It  was  made  a  festal  occasion,  as 
Matt.  22:  2-14  implies.]  Usually  a  period  of 
twelve  months  intervened  between  the  be- 
trothal and  the  wedding  ceremony,  during 
which  time  the  bride-elect  continued  to  live 
with  her  friends,  and  all  communications  be- 
tween herself  and  the  bridegroom  were  car- 
ried on  through  the  medium  of  a  'friend  of 
the  bridegroom '  (John.i:M).  .  .  .  The  essential 
feature  in  the  wedding  ceremony  consisted  in 
taking  the  bride  to  her  future  husband's 
home.  Throughout  the  day  preceding  this 
ceremony,  both  parties  fasted,  confessing 
their  sins,  and  seeking  forgiveness.  It  is 
thought,  also,  that  the  bride  prepared  herself 
for  the  wedding  ceremony  by  a  bath,  taken, 
as  it  certainly  is  in  modern  times,  with  some 
pomp,  and  as  an  important  part  in  her  share 
of  the  wedding  ceremonial  (Rutus:  3;  Ezek.  23:  40; 
Epii.5: 26, 27)."  In  the  imagery  of  our  present 
passage,  the  words,  "and  his  wife  hath  made 
herself  ready,"  indicate  that  the  interval  be- 
tween the  betrothal  and  the  bringing  home  of 
the  bride  is  past, and  the  time  come  for  the  pub- 
lic ceremonial  of  the  marriage — the  bride  has 
prepared  herself  for  the  marriage  ceremony. 
8.  And  to   her  was   granted  that   she 


262 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIX. 


9  Aud  he  saith  unto  me,  Write,  <•  Blessed  are  they 
which  are  called  unto  the  marriage  supper  of  the 
haiub.  Aud  he  saith  unto  me,  'These  are  the  true  say- 
iuas  of  God. 


9  righteous  acts  of  the  saints.  And  he  saith  unto  me. 
Write,  Blessed  are  they  who  are  bidden  to  the  mar- 
riage supper  of  the  Lamb.    And  he  saith  unto  me 


a  Mutt.  2i:  2,  3;  Luke  14:  15,  16 6  cb.  21 :  5  ;  22-6. 


should  be  arrayed  [should  array  herself] 
ill  fine  linen,  clean  and  white;  for  the 
fine  linen  is  the  righteousness  of  saints. 

The  rendering,  "bright  and  pure,"  in  the 
revision,  is  preferable.  The  substitution  will 
also  be  noticed  of  "righteous  acts  of  the 
saints,"  for  "  righteousness  of  saints."  Lange 
and  Carpenter  prefer  "righteousnesses  of  the 
saints";  and  the  former  comments:  "The 
Greek  word  for  righteousness  in  this  place 
{SiKaiuitia,  here  used  in  the  plural,  SucanoMaTa),  is 
always  a  means  by  which  justice  is  satisfied, 
or  acquittal  is  obtained,  whether  it  be  by  the 
performance  of  the  right,  or  the  expiation  of 
the  wrong  (by  undergoing  punishment),  or 
atonement,  as  the  concrete  unity  of  the  doing 
and  the  sutfering  of  that  which  is  right."  It 
is  the  same  word  which  Paul  uses  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans  (is  i"  5:  le),  to  express  his 
idea  of  justification.  "The  source  of  these 
righteousnesses,"  says  the  note  in  Ellicott, "is 
divine;  it  is  given  her  to  be  so  arrayed.  It  is 
no  fictitious  righteousness ;  it  is  real,  though 
it  never  would  have  been  bar's  but  for  him 
without  whom  she  can  do  nothing  (of.  John  15 : 
4. 5 ;  Phil. 3: 810)."  The  translation  "righteous- 
nesses" is  perhaps  preferable  to  "righteous 
acts,"  although  it  is  difficult  to  render  the 
Greek  term  by  any  single  English  word. 
The  latter — "righteous  acts" — might  appear 
to  imply  that  the  acceptance  which  the  saints 
enjoyed  is  occasioned  by  meritorious  deeds  of 
their  own,  which  the  Greek  word  does  not  or- 
dinarily imply;  whereas,  not  only  are  they 
"accepted  in  the  Beloved,"  but  their  bright 
and  pure  array  is  here  expressly  said  to  be 
"given"  them.  The  word  "righteousness," 
with  its  far  wider  meaning,  while  it  more  accu- 
rately represents  the  Greek,  comprehends  alike 
that  "righteousness"  of  the  saints,  "which 
is  offered  by  faith,"  and  besides,  all  that  in 
character  and  life  which  has  testified  to  the 
genuineness  of  the  faith.  We  agree  with 
Carpenter,  that  the  song  closes  with  the 
words,  "hath  made  herself  ready."  The 
eighth  verse,  now  under  consideration,  is  ex- 
planatory, and  the  words  of  John  himself. 
The  contrasted  adornment  of  the  bride  and  of 


the  harlot  should  be  noticed.  In  the  array  of 
the  latter  were  all  manner  of  meretricious 
splendors ;  that  of  the  former  is  simple,  but 
"bright  and  pure" — as  Grotius  says:  "the 
grave  attire  of  the  matron,  not  the  gaudy 
splendor  of  the  harlot."  By  these  tokens  is 
the  true  church  known  from  the  false,  even 
now  ;  much  more  will  it  be  so  then. 

9.  And  he  saith  unto  me.  Who  is  it 
that  speaks?  A  question  not  easily  answered. 
Some  expositors  recall  ch.  1 :  1,  where  it  is 
said  that  this  "Revelation"  was  "signified 
unto  John"  by  his  [God's]  angel."  They  sup- 
pose that  this  angelus  interpres,  "interpret- 
ing angel,"  is  present  with  John,  throughout, 
that  the  "great  voice,  as  of  a  trumpet," 
spoken  of  in  1 :  10,  was  the  voice  of  this  angel, 
and  that  his  presence  with  the  seer  is  to  be 
everywhere  assumed.  They  think  that  in  the 
verse  now  considered,  the  words,  "he  said 
unto  me,"  are  an  abrupt  mention  of  the  same 
interpreting  angel — an  abruptness  to  be  ex- 
plained, like  other  peculiarities  of  the  book, 
by  its  character  as  a  vision,  the  conditions 
being  all  abnormal,  such  as  the  very  nature 
of  a  vision  presupposes.  Others  think — and 
this  is  the  view  of  such  as  Bengel,  De  Wette, 
Hengstenberg,  Diisterdieck,  Alford,  and  Car- 
penter— that  the  angel  here  is  the  same  as  the 
angel  mentioned  in  ch.  17:1:  "One  of  the 
angels  which  had  the  seven  vials."  Lange 
takes  it  to  be  the  angel  mentioned  in  18 :  21, 
the  "mighty  angel"  with  the  millstone. 
There  is  a  significant  passage  at  ch.  22:8, 
where  we  read  :  "And  when  I  had  heard  and 
seen,  I  fell  down  to  worship  before  the  feet 
of  the  angel  which  showed  me  these  things.''^ 
In  ver.  10  of  the  present  chapter  a  like  thing 
is  said,  and  here,  as  in  22:  9,  John  is  forbidden 
to  render  this  act  of  worship  to  a  "fellow- 
servant."  The  similarity  of  the  two  passages 
suggests  that  the  "angel"  in  each  is  identi- 
cal with  the  angel  in  the  other,  while  the 
manner  in  which  the  mention  of  him  in  each 
is  introduced  suggests  a  probability  that  in 
both  it  is  the  angel-interpreter  of  whom  we 
read,  as  noted  above,  in  the  very  opening  of 
the  book.     We  incline,  on  our  own  part,  to 


Ch.  XIX.] 


REVELATION. 


263 


10  And  "I  fell  at  his  feet  to  worship  him.    And  he    10  These  are  true  words  of  God.  And  I  fell  down  before 


said  unto  me,  'See  thon  ilo  U  not:  I  am  thy  fellow- 
servant,  and  of  thy  brethren  ''that  have  the  testimony 
of  Jesns:  worship  God:  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus  is 
the  spirit  of  prophecy. 


his  feet  to  worship  him.  And  he  saith  unto  me,  See 
thou  do  it  not:  I  am  a  fellow-servant  witli  tUee  and 
with  thy  brethren  that  hold  the  testimony  of  Jesus: 
worship'  God :  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus  is  the  spirit 
of  prophecy. 


ach.  22:  8.... 6  Acts  10:  26;  U:U,  15;  ch.  22:9....c  1  John  5  :  10;  ch.  12:  17. 


this  view,  although  the  point  seems  incapable 
of  positive  deterniination.  If  we  adopt  it,  we 
must  make  one  other  important  distinction 
between  this  angel  and  the  various  other 
angelic  appearances,  which  are  appearances 
merely,  belonging  in  each  case  to  the  scenery 
of  the  vision.  This  angel  is  a  real  one,  and 
acts  and  speaks  as  such. — Write,  Blessed 
are  they  which  are  called  to  the  mar- 
riage supper  of  the  Lamb.  This  is  equiva- 
lent to  saying,  "Blessed  are  they  who  in 
the  consummation  are  found  among  the  elect 
ones,  the  finally  saved."  Commentators  note 
six  of  these  "benedictions  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse," as  they  are  called,  chs.  1:3;  14:  13; 
20:6;  22:7,  14 — the  present  one  completing 
the  six.  "We  must  not,"  says  Carpenter, 
"draw  too  sharp  distinctions  between  the 
bride  and  the  guests;  the  imagery  is  varied 
to  give  fullness  and  force  to  the  truths  which 
no  emblems  can  adequately  express."  If  any 
such  distinction  were  made,  it  would  be  be- 
tween the  church,  the  whole  body  of  the  re- 
deemed, as  such,  and  the  same  redeemed 
company  as  individuals;  in  the  former  case, 
the  imagery  presents  them  as  the  bride,  in 
the  latter,  as  the  guests.— And  he  saith  unto 
me,  These  are  the  true  sayings  [words] 
of  God.  A  solemn  confirmation  of  the  tJ-uth 
and  certainty  of  the  things  here  and  thus 
made  known. 

10.  And  I  fell  at  his  feet  to  worship 
him.  An  act  to  which  he  is  moved,  not  un- 
naturally, by  the  heavenly  splendor  in  which 
.the  angel  appears  to  him,  and  by  the  wonder- 
fulness  and  blessedness  of  the  things  dis- 
closed. The  worship  seems  to  be  prompted 
by  a  feeling  that  this  being  must  be  himself 
divine.  Other  angelic  appearances  John 
seems  to  have  recognized  as  angelic  simply. 
In  the  present  case,  his  wonder  and  gratitude 
are  such  that  only  an  act  of  worship,  as  to 
one  believed  to  be  divine,  can  adequately  ex- 
press what  he  feels. — And  he  said  unto  me, 
See  thou  do  it  not.  Literally,  ".sfic,  not,"' 
'Hake  heed,  not''  ;  the  words  :  '' i/iou  do  it," 
being  supplied.— I  am  thy  fellow-servant, 
and  of  thy  brethren  that  have  the  testi- 


mony of  Jesus.  The  rendering  in  the  re- 
vised version  is  less  ambiguous:  "I  am  a 
fellow-servant  with  thee  and  with  thj'  breth- 
ren." In  the  common  version,  a  hast^'  reader 
might  understand  the  words  as  being:  "I 
am  one  of  thy  fellow-servants  and  one  of 
thy  brethren,"  and  from  this  infer  that  the 
"angel"  is  in  fact  a  redeemed  human  spirit, 
sent  to  John  upon  this  errand  as  the  Apoca- 
lyptic interpreter.  This  is  the  view  taken  by 
such  commentators  as  Eichhorn  and  Ziillig. 
The  meaning  is,  really,  that  the  angel  is 
John's  fellow-servant,  and  a  fellow-servant 
of  all  those  who  "have  the  testimony  of 
Jesus."  In  the  parallel  passage  (22:9)  the 
words  are:  "them  which  keep  the  sayings  of 
this  book."  The  Speaker's  Commentary,  ac- 
cordingly, appears  to  prefer  the  rendering 
here,  "which  hold  the  testimony  of  Jesus." 
By  "the  testimony  of  Jesus"  must  be  under- 
stood testimony  to  him  and  for  him ;  full  and 
open  recognition  of  him  in  his  exalted  being 
and  office,  and  a  witnessing  ministry  in  that 
behalf  The  words  teach  that  angels,  like 
men,  see  in  Jesus  the  divine  Redeemer  of 
the  world,  and  that — in  their  own  sphere  of 
instrumentality — they  have  a  share  with 
redeemed  men  themselves,  in  that  minis- 
try through  which  he  is  in  this  character 
preached  "in  all  the  world." — Worship 
God.  The  only  proper  object  of  worship. — 
For  the  testimony  of  Jesus  is  the  spirit 
ot  prophecy.  We  incline  to  the  opinion 
that  the  word  "prophecj',"  here,  is  to  be 
taken  in  its  large  sense — chieflj-,  indeed,  im- 
plying what  is  usually  meant  by  the  word; 
but  embracing  every  form  of  inspired  utter- 
ance. What  the  angel  says,  therefore,  is  that 
to  testify  to  and  for  Jesus,  is  the  mission  of 
all  those  who,  in  the  communications  of  God 
to  men,  serve  as  the  in.struments  of  his  revela- 
tions. It  is  true  of  angeLs,  as  it  is  true  of 
inspired  men,  and  of  uninspired  men  who 
have  this  "testimony  of  Jesus."  So  central  irt 
the  whole  scheme  of  divine  revelation,  as  in 
the  whole  .system  of  divine  provision,  are  the 
person  and  work  of  Jesu.s,  that,  whether  ex- 
pressly or  not,  all  that  is  spoken  in  revelation, 


'264 


REVELATIOK 


[Ch.  XIX. 


11  "And  I  saw  heaven  opened,  and  behold  'a  white 
horse;  and  he  that  sat  upon  hiiu  w(i.i  called  <^ Faithful 
and  True,  and  •'in  righteousness  he  doth  judge  and 
make  war. 


11  And  I  saw  the  heaven  opened;  and  behold,  a  white 
horse,  and  he  that  sat  thereon, '  called  Faithtul  and 
True;  and  in  righteousness  he  doth  judge  and  make 


a  ch.  15:  5 b  ch.  6:2 c  cb.  3    14 d  Isa.  11 :  4. 1  Some  ancieul  authorities  omit,  called. 


or  proffered  in  promise,  centres  also  in  him. 
To  "preach  Jesus"  is,  in  so  far  as  service  in 
the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth  is  concerned, 
the  mission,  alike  of  men  and  of  angels, 
Even  the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament 
were  moved  bj'  "the  Spirit  of  Christ  which 
was  in  them''  (iPet.  i:ii).  The  exact  force  of 
the  connecting  particle  "for'"  is  somewhat 
.obscure.  Are  the  words,  :  "The  testimony  of 
Jesus  is  the  spirit  of  prophecy,"  a  reason 
■given  why  he  should  "worship  God"?  Or 
is  the  immediate  antecedent  to  this  clause  to 
be  found  earlier  in  the  verse?  The  latter 
seems  the  more  probable.  After  the  injunc- 
tion, "Worship  God,"  the  angel  returns  to 
•the  point  stated  at  the  beginning  of  the  verse, 
and  shows  how  a  common  service  of  witness- 
ing for  Jesus  places  angels  and  men  upon  one 
level  as  fellow-servants,  so  that  the  man  is 
not  to  worship  the  angel  any  more  than  the 
angel  the  man.  Both  alike  must  "worship 
God."  The  words,  however,  are  capable  of 
expansion  beyond  the  application  made  of 
them  here,  and  ma^^  be  regarded  as  intended, 
as  well,  to  show  how  "the  testimony  of 
Jesus"  is  the  organizing  principle  in  all  reve- 
lation. 
•    11-16.  The  CoNQUERiNa  Word. 

11.  And  I  saw  heaven  opened,  and  be- 
hold a  white  horse  ;  and  he  that  sat  upon 
him  was  called  Faithful  and  True.  The 
words  "I  saw  heaven  opened"  may  be  put 
in  relation  with  those  at  thje  beginning  of 
this  chapter— "After  these  things  I  heard  a 
great  voice  of  much  people  in  heaven." 
Those  uniting  in  this  chorus  of  praise  appear 
to  have  been  invisiVjle  to  John.  They  were 
"in  heaven,"  in  the  sense  of  being  apart 
from  the  immediate  scene  of  these  visions, 
while  their  voices  came  to  the  hearer  of  them 
as  if  from  behind  a  veil,  beyond  which  lay 
the  regions  of  the  blest.  That  veil  now  parts, 
"heaven  opens,"  and  the  white  horse  with 
his  rider  once  more  is  seen.  For  the  white 
horse  "and  him  that  sat  upon  him"  have 
appeared  upon  the  scene  of  a  former  vision. 
At  the  op('ning  of  the  first  seal  (ch.6:i,2)j  "I 
saw,"  says  John,  "and  behold  a  white  horse; 
and    he    that  sat  on  him  had  a  bow,  and  a 


crown  was  given  unto  him :  and  he  went 
forth  conquering  and  to  conquer."  This 
opening  of  the  first  seal  was  the  initiatory  a(t 
in  the  revelations,  which,  in  successive  chap- 
ters, we  have  been  studying.  The  white 
horse  and  his  rider  were  first  of  the  striking 
figures  that  have  appeared  on  the  scene, 
taking  part  in  successive  acts  of  the  Apoca- 
lyptic drama.  And  now,  after  so  much  has 
intervened,  covering  centuries  of  time  and  a 
vast  tract  of  human  history,  we  see  them 
again.  Their  first  appearance  signalized  an 
era  ;  it  represented  the  opening  of  the  Chris- 
tian Dispensation.  The  white  horse  sym- 
bolized alike  the  character  of  him  who  rode 
and  the  spirit  and  aims  of  that  conquering 
career  in  which  he  was  riding  forth  ;  the 
crown  indicated  dominion,  and  the  bow  the 
nature  of  the  warfare  by  which  he  was  to 
conquer.  Our  exposition  at  that  place  shows 
how,  under  these  impressive  symbols,  the 
opening,  triumphant  era  of  the  Christian 
Dispensation  is  set  forth.  The  striking  simi- 
larity between  what  is  now  before  us  and  that 
which  was  thus  seen  at  the  beginning  of  these 
disclosures,  suggests  that  between  the  occasion 
of  the  one  of  those  and  that  of  the  other  there 
must  be  a  like  semblance.  That  was  an  era 
in  the  history  of  God's  spiritual  kingdom 
among  men;  so  also  must  this  be.  In  the 
former  case,  however,  the  rider  of  the  white 
horse  is  not  named.  Here  the  name  is  given 
him,  "Faithful  and  True."  It  is  a  name 
most  significant;  significant  especially  of  this, 
that  the  promises  by  which  faith  and  hope 
have,  during  so  many  centuries  of  trying 
vicissitude  been  sustained,  are  now  on  the 
eve  of  fulfillment;  that  the  time  has  come 
when  it  will  be  shown  how,  of  all  the  good 
things  which  the  Lord  had  spoken,  not  one 
has  failed;  but  all  came  to  pass  (Josh. 21:45). 
This  is  he  who  at  the  beginning  rode  forth 
crowned  and  conquering.  They  who,  age 
after  age,  have  submitted  to  his  reign,  have 
enlIst(Hl  under  his  banner,  have  fought  and 
sufferiHl  and  died  in  his  cause,  shall  now  find 
that,  however  it  may  have  seemed  in  ages  of 
gloom  and  trial,  the  final  trium])h  and  the 
great  reward   were   never  for  a  moment   in 


Ch.  XIX.] 


REVELATION. 


265 


12  "His  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire,  'and  on  his  head  [  12  war.     And  his  eyes  are  a  flame  of  fire, and  upon  his 
were  many  crowns;  'and  he  had  a  name  written,  that  I       head  ore  many  diadems;  and  lie  hatli  a  name  writ- 


no  man  knew,  but  he  himself. 

13  liAud   he  tvas  clothed  with   a  vesture  dipped  in 
blood:  and  his  name  is  called  «The  Word  of  God. 


\'A  ten,  which  no  one  knowelh  hut  he  himself.     And  lie 
is  arrayed  iu  a  garment  'sprinkled  with  blood:  and 


ach.  1:  11;  2  :  18...  .6  ch.  6  :  ^....cch.  •.! :  17  ;  ver.  16.... d  Isa.  fi.) :  2.3. 

read,  dipped  in 


;  Jobu  1;  1  ;  IJohn  5 :  7.- 


doubt.  He  wliom  tliej^  have  followed  is 
"Faithful  and  True." — And  in  righteous- 
ness he  doth  judge  and  make  war.     His 

cause  is  the  righteous  cause.  He  makes  war 
only  on  that  which  deserves  destruction,  and 
he  arraigns  and  judges  only  those  who  are 
criminals  as  well  as  enemies.  More  especially 
does  this  become  true  as  we  see  that  the  enemy 
he  makes  war  upon  is  Antichrist  himself. 

13.  His  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire, 
and  on  his  head  were  many  crowns.  The 
"eyes  as  a  flame  of  fire"  remind  us  of  him 
who  appeared  to  John  at  the  first  (ch.  i:u). 
The  "crowns"  or  diadems  are  indicative  of 
dominion.  That  they  are  "many"  indicates 
the  completeness  of  that  dominion  which  he 
has  won.  Upon  his  former  appearance  we 
simply  read  that  "there  was  a  crown  given 
unto  him."  Here  there  are  many  crowns. 
The  ultimate  dominion  there  foreshadowed  is 
here  completely  achieved;  it  is  the  result  of 
conquest,  and  in  it  '''all  might  and  all  do- 
minion" are  subdued  and  made  subject. — 
And  he  had  a  name  written,  that  no  man 
knew  ["?io  man  knmveth'']  but  he  himself. 
He  has  already  been  called  by  one  name, 
"  Faithful  and  True."  A  little  further  on  we 
are  told  of  j^nother  name  which  he  bears, 
"The  Word  of  God";  and  .still  again,  that  on 
his  vesture  and  on  his  thigh  there  was  the 
even  more  august  name,  "King  of  kings  and 
Lord  of  lords."  But  here  we  have  mention 
of  a  name  which  "no  man  [no  one]  knoweth 
but  he  himself"  Beyond  and  within  all  that 
is  communicable  of  the  being  and  per.son  of 
him  who  thus  appears,  there  is  the  incom- 
municable and  the  inscrutable.  What  he  is 
in  his  relation  to  his  own  people,  as  the  faith- 
ful and  true  one;  what  he  is  as  the  summary 
and  the  fullness  of  all  divine  revelation,  the 
Logos,  the  Word  of  God;  what  he  is  in  his 
relation  to  the  world,  the  King  of  its  kings, 
the  Lord  of  its  lords,  exercising  over  all  mas- 
tery and  all  dominion  a  dominion  and  a  mas- 
tery infinitely  superior  and  supreme — this  can 
be  in  a  measure  understood.  But  who  has 
ever  penetrated  beyond  these,  so  as  to  know 


him  as  he  is  in  his  essential  being?  There  is 
a  name  belonging  to  him  which  has  never  yet 
been  revealed  to  created  intelligence.  The 
question  where  the  name  was  written,  which 
some  commentators  discuss,  cannot  be  an- 
swered, and  need  not  be.  Is  this,  then,  the 
"new  name,"  mentioned  in  ch.  3:12:  "I 
will  write  upon  him  [vpo7i  hhn  who  over- 
comes] my  new  name."  We  think  it  doubt- 
ful. The  name  there  does  not  seem  to  be  a 
name  which  no  one  knoweth.  Do  not  they 
upon  whom  it  is  written  know?  It  is,  be- 
sides, more  in  accordance  with  the  whole 
spirit  of  the  imagery,  here,  to  take  this  mj's- 
terious  name  as  a  symbol  of  the  mj'sterious 
and  wonderful  nature  of  him  who  bears  it, 
and  as  showing  that  back  of  all  niayiifestation 
in  the  person  of  our  Lord,  there  is  that  which 
entitles  him  to  the  name  given  him  by  a 
prophet  of  the  Old  Dispensation — "The  Won- 
derful." 

13.  And  he  was  clothed  with  a  vesture 
dipped  in  blood.  The  revision,  it  will  be 
noticed,  renders:  "a  garment  sprinkled  with 
blood."  *"  Is  this  blood  the  blood  of  his  ene- 
mies, or  his  own  blood,  "shed  for  many,  for 
the  remission  of  sins"?  The  former  seems 
the  more  likely  view,  as  we  consult  the  paral- 
lel passage,  as  also  the  connection  here.  The 
Old  Testament  basis  of  the  imagery  used  is 
understood  to  be  the  passage  in  Isa.  63:  1-3, 


*The  Greek  word  in  the  Sinaitic  text,  preferred  by 
Tischendorf,  is  "sprinkled  abn\it,"  "be  sprinkled," 
(TTfpipfpafi/iieioi',  from  iTfpipaii'u)\  instead  of  "dipped" 
(PeBa-tifJ^evoi',  from  fiairTw  ,  as  in  the  text  followed  by 
the  common  version.  Westcott  and  Hort,  whose  text 
with  the  word  for  "sprinkled"  {'pepavTKrtxfvov'i,  the 
revision  follows,  after  referring  to  manuscript  author- 
ity, say:  "The  versions  are  somewhat  ambifjuous;  but 
all  the  Latins  liave  xfnirsam,  asper.i/nn,  or  ronxpersnm,  all 
of  which  readings  point  to  paii-cu,  ar  pairiCio,  [/o  .\)>rin- 
l-le]  or  one  of  their  compounds,  rather  than  pdirrio, 
[fn  dip.]  A  word  denoting  sjiriiikling  seems  also  to  agree 
best  with  the  context,  and  with  RiUlical  symbolism 
generally;  see  espcoially  isa.  C,:i:  :i,  where  eppoi-TtV^ij 
[from  poi-Ti^uj  lo  xj/rink/e],  or  according  to  some  MS.S. 
^ppof-^t;.  [from  paivui.  al.so  meaning  to  sjirivhle].  is  used 
by  Aquila  and  .Symiuachus."  [Notes  on  Select  Read- 
ings, Vol.  II.,  pp.  140].  Diisterdieck,  Lange,  Alford,  and 
Carpenter,  retain  Oe3a»iM«'»'o»'\  "dipped."  The  Speak- 
er''s  Commentary  appears  to  prefer  the  other. 


266 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIX. 


14  "And  the  armies  which  were  in  heaven  followed 
him  upon  white  horses,  'clothed  in  fine  linen,  white 
and  clean. 

15  And  ''out  of  his  mouth  goeth  a  sharp  sword,  that 
with  it  he  should  siuite  the  nations:  and  ''he  shall  rule 
them  with  a  rod  of  iron;  and  «he  treadeth  the  wine- 
press of  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of  Almighty  God. 


14  his  name  is  called  The  Word  of  God.  And  the  ar- 
mies that  are  in  heaven  followed  him  upon  white 

15  horses,  clothed  in  tine  linen,  white  and  pure.  And 
out  of  his  mouth  proceedeth  a  sharp  sword,  tha-t 
with  it  he  should  smite  the  nations:  and  he  shall 
rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron :  and  he  treadeth  the 
1  winepress  of  the  fierceness  of  the  wrath  of  God, 


acta.  14:  20 b  Mutt.  28:  3:  cli 


7  :  9....C  Isa.  11 :  4;  2  Thess.  2:8;  ch.  1  :  IB;  ver.  21 d  Ps. 

63  :  3  ;  ch.  14  :  19,  20. 1  Gr.  winepress  of  the  wine  of  the  fierceness. 


:  9;  oh.  2  :  27  ;  12:  5.... e  Isa. 


especially  the  third  verse,  where  the  glorious 
person  described  appears  as  saying:  "I  have 
trodden  the  wine-press  alone,  and  of  the  peo- 
ple there  was  none  with  me;  for  I  will  tread 
them  in  mine  anger,  and  trample  them  in 
my  fury ;  and  their  blood  shall  be  sprinkled 
on  all  mj'  garments,  and  I  will  stain  all  my 
raiment."  In  the  connection  of  our  present 
passage,  we  find  the  words  :  "And  he  treadeth 
the  wine-press  of  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of 
Almighty  God."  It  would  seem,  then,  that 
the  allusion  in  the  mention  of  blood  is  not  to 
our  Lord's  redeeming  work  ;  but  to  that  work 
of  judgment,  in  which  he  visits  with  final 
overthrow  all  the  opponents  of  his  toHmphing 
kingdom  of  grace. — And  his  name  is  called 
the  Word  of  God.  It  is  John  alone,  of  New 
Testament  writers,  who  speaks  of  Jesus  as  the 
Word  (Aoyos).  We  are  reminded,  as  we  rpad 
what  he  says  here,  of  the  sublime  words  with 
which  he  begins  his  Gospel:  "In  the  begin- 
ning was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with 
God.  and  the  Word  was  God."  Such  is  he  who 
now  appears  in  *'ision  to  the  same  apostle. 

14.  And  the  armies  which  were  in 
heaven  followed  him  upon  white  horses. 
Those  who  think  that  the  vision  here  de- 
scribed is  a  picture  of  our  Lord  coming  forth 
in  the  final  judgment,  understand  by  the  "ar- 
mies," armies  of  angels.  They  quote  Matt. 
25:31 — "When  the  Son  of  man  .shall  come 
in  his  glory,  and  all  the  holy  angels  with 
him" — as  a  parallel  passage.  The  descrip- 
tion, however,  of  the  "great  white  throne," 
in  Rev.  20:11,  is  much  more  in  correspon- 
dence with  these  words  from  Matthew.  Be- 
sides, the  connection  of  our  passage  shows 
that  it  is  not  to  the  final  judgment  of  the 
world  that  he  upon  the  white  horse  comes, 
but  for  the  final  overthrow  and  destruction  of 
Antichrist.  And  this  is  wrought  by  means 
like  those  which  are  used  in  the  whole  prog- 
ress of  his  kingdom.  That  angels  have  a 
share  in  the  work  that  goes  forward  under 
the  Gospel  Dispensation  —  in  the  conflict 
where  fierce  collisions  occur,  and  in  the  more 
peaceful  toil  of  the  more  i)eaceful  times — we 


do  not  doubt.  We  do  not,  nevertheless,  un- 
derstand angels  to  be  meant  here,  in  speaking 
of  "the  armies  of  heaven."  In  truth,  the 
words,  in  ch.  17 :  14,  seem  to  be  used  in  an- 
ticipation of  what  we  have  in  this  place,  and 
to  be  conclusive  on  the  point  we  are  con- 
sidering: "These" — the  ten  horns  of  the 
beast — "shall  make  war  with  the  Lamb,  and 
the  Lamb  shall  overcome  them ;  for  he  is 
Lord  of  lords,  and  King  of  kings" — the  same 
title  given  to  him  in  our  present  text — "and 
they  that  are  with  him  are  called,  and  chosen, 
and  faithful."  These  terms  of  description 
apply  alone  to  his  own  saved  people,  and  it 
must  be  of  such  as  these  that  these  "armies 
of  heaven"  are  composed.  It  is  not  to  be 
forgotten,  either,  that  what  we  are  studying, 
here,  is  imagerj'  the  same  in  general  charac- 
ter as  has  occupied  us  throughout  the  book. 
When  the  rider  and  his  horse  appear  at  the 
opening  of  the  Christian  Dispensation,  the 
symbols  used  represent  simply  the  conquer- 
ing power  and  effect  of  the  gospel  itself.  In 
a  like  way,  what  we  are  now  studying  is  just 
a  vivid  picture  of  the  overmastering  efliiciency 
of  Christian  instrumentality  accompanied  by 
special  and  unusual  exertions  of  divine  powen 
and  bj'  striking  interpositions  of  providence, 
and  thus  made  "mighty  through  God  to  the 
pulling  down  of"  the  last  of  the  enemy's 
"strongholds."  It  is  the  final  glorious  vic- 
tory of  truth  and  righteousness  upon  the 
same  field  where  they  are  now  contending. — 
Clothed  in  fine  linen,  white  and  clean. 
"  ]rhitc,  pure.^'  It  has  already  been  ex- 
plained that  this  "fine  linen"  is," the  right- 
eousnesses of  the  saints";  its  mention  here 
shows  again,  and  conclusively,  who  these  are 
that  compose  "the  armies  of  heaven." 

15.  And  out  of  his  mouth  goeth  a  sharp 
sword.  Symbolizing  the  fact  that  it  is  "the 
word  of  the  Lord,"  the  gospel,  that  is  to 
achieve  final  victory.  —  That  with  it  he 
should  smite  the  nations.  Smite  them 
with  conviction,  overcome  all  forms  of  op- 
position, silence  infidelity,  and  cover  with 
confusion  those  who  remain  obdurate  to  the 


Ch.  XIX.] 


REVELATION. 


267 


16  And  "he  hath  on  his  vesture  and  on  his  thigh  a 
name  written,  'KING  OF  KINGS,  AND  LORD  OF 
LORDS. 

17  And  I  saw  an  augel  standing  in  the  sun;  and  he 
cried  witli  a  loud  voice,  saying  "to  all  the  fowls  that  fly 
in  the  midst  of  heaven,  ■'Come  and  gather  yourselves 
together  unto  the  supper  of  the  great  <iod; 

18  «That  ye  may  eat  the  flesh  of  kings,  and  the  flesh 
of  captains,  and  the  flesh  of  mighty  men,  and  the  flesh 
of  horses,  and  of  them  that  sit  on  them,  and  the  flesh 
of  all  men,  both  free  and  bond,  both  small  and  great. 


16  the  Almighty.  And  he  hath  on  his  garment  and  on 
his  thigh  a  name  written,  Kino  of  kings,  and  Lord 

OF    LORDS. 

17  And  I  saw  'an  angel  standing  in  the  sun;  and  he 
cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying  to  all  the  birds  that 
fly  in  mid  heaven.  Come  </«</  be  gathered  together 

18  unto  the  great  supper  of  (jod;  that  ye  may  eat  the 
flesh  of  kings,  and  the  flesh  of  ^captains,  and  the 
flesh  of  mighty  men,  and  the  flesh  of  horses  and  of 
them  that  sit  thereon,  and  the  flesh  of  all  men,  both 
free  and  bond,  and  small  and  great. 


aver.  12....i  D.in.  2:  47;  1  Tim.  6  :  15  ;  ch.  17:  14. ..  .c  vpr.  21....d  Ezek.  39  :  17.. 

tary  tribunes  ;  Gr.  chiliarchs. 


'.  F.zek.  39  :  18, 


-1  Gr.  ( 


..2  Or,  mili- 


last. — And  he  shall  rule  them  with  a  rod 
of  iron. — Fulfilling  the  prophecy  and  prom- 
ise of  the  Second  Psalm:  "Ask  of  me  and  I 
shall  give  thee  the  heathen  {the  nations]  for 
thine  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the   earth   for    thy    possession.      Thou    shalt 
break  them  with  a  rod  of  iron ;    thou  shalt 
dash  them  in  pieces  like  a  potter's  vessel." 
By  this,  as  well  as  by  what  we  have  in  the 
text  studied,  is  meant  all  in  the  nations  that 
is  in  opposition  to  Christ's  kingdom.     Every 
form   of  such   opposition  will  be  completely 
overcome.     The  shepherd's  staff  with  which 
our  Lord  rules  and  leads  his  people  becomes 
a  rod  of  iron  when  used  against  his  enemies. 
— And  he  treadeth  the  winepress  of  the 
fierceness  and  wrath  of  Almighty  God. 
This    intense    imagery    and    language    must 
simply  teach   us  how   final   and  how   severe 
will  be  God's  judgment  upon  the  evil  of  the 
world.      And  yet,  in  the  destruction  of  evil 
they  must  suffer  who  have  been  its  upholders. 
It  is  as  when  the  pillars  of  the  Dagon  temple 
gave    way    under    the    mighty   strain   while 
Samson  "bowed  himself  with  all  his  might," 
and  in  the  fall  the  mocking  onlookers  were 
crushed.     The  judgments  of  God,  even  upon 
the  wicked  and  the  finally  obdurate,  are  not 
arbitrary.     It  is  the  evil  of  the  world  that 
kindles  the  divine  wrath  to  "fierceness"  ;  yet 
when,  in  the  overthrow  of  evil,  they  who  are 
on  its  side  are  crushed,  it  is  what  every  prin- 
ciple of  justice  and  right  makes  inevitable. 
The  figure  of  the  "  wine-press"  is  an  evident 
allusion  to  the  passage  in  Isaiah  before  quoted, 
16.  And  he  hath  on  his  vesture  and  on 
his  thigh  a  name  written.  King  of  kings, 
and  Lord  of  lords.     The   name  "Faithful 
and  True"  describes  him  in  his  relations  with 
his  redeemed  ones.  "The  Word  of  God"  as  the 
medium,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  substance, 
of  that  revealed  truth  through  which  all  the 
aims  of  this  Dispensation  are  achieved.  "  King 
of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords"  as  supreme  even 


in  the  dominion  of  the  world — holding  and, 
in  due  time,  effectually  asserting  a  supremacy 
which  even  the  proudest  and  mightiest  must 
acknowledge. 

17-21.  Final  Doom  of  Antichrist. 

17.  And  I  saw  an  angel  standing  in  the 
sun.  We  still  are  to  remember,  as  we  pro- 
ceed now  to  the  striking  passage  wiiich  fol- 
lows, that  we  are  dealing  with  vision  and  with 
imagery.  Many  writers  explain  the  position 
of  the  angel,  in  the  sun,  as  enabling  him  best 
to  "call  to  the  birds."  Others  think  that 
the  sun  is  spoken  of  here  symbolically,  "as 
revelation,"  and  the  angel  holds  his  position 
there  as  announcing  what  revelation  makes 
known  of  the  approaching  doom  of  Anti- 
christ. We  incline  to  take  it  simply  as  one 
part  of  the  scenery  of  the  vision;  or,  if  more 
is  imported,  that  this  is,  that  a  position  thus 
central  and  commanding  was  most  suitable 
for  the  herald  of  such  events  as  are  now  at 
hand. — And  he  cried  with  a  loud  voice, 
saying  to  all  the  fowls  [birda]  that  fly  in 
the  midst  of  heaven.  Come,  and  gather 
yourselves  together  unto  the  supper  of 
the  great  God.  "The  armies  of  heaven" 
with  their  mighty  leader  have  been  seen  rid- 
ing forth.  Against  whom  they  march  is 
shown  in  ver.  19,  below.  It  is  "the  beast, 
and  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  their  armies." 
What  the  result  of  the  conflict  will  be  is 
announced  in  this  summons  of  the  angel. 
The  imagery  is  predicated  upon  the  fact  that 
to  the  field  of  a  battle,  after  the  deadly 
struggle  is  over,  birds  of  prey  were  wont  to 
flock.  The  words,  "the  supper  of  the  great 
God,"  are  taken  by  some  as  presenting  a 
picture  in  contrast  with  "the  marriage  sup- 
per of  the  Lamb."  This  is  perhaps  a  strain- 
ing of  the  imagery.  We  prefer  to  take  the 
words  just  as  a  vivid  setting  forth  of  the 
divine  participation,  in  purpose  and  act,  in 
these  final  events. 
18.  That  ye  may  eat  the  flesh  of  kings. 


268 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIX. 


19  "And  I  saw  the  beast,  and  the  kings  of  the  earth,  19  And  I  saw  the  beast,  and  the  kings  of  the  earth, 
and  their  armies,  gatliered  together  to  make  war  and  their  armies,  gatliered  together  to  make  war 
against  him  that  sat  on  tlie  liorse,  and  against  his  armj*.  against  him  that  sat  upon  the  horse,  and  against  his 

20  'And  tlie  l)east  was  taken,  and  witu  him  the  false  20  army.     And  the  beast  was  taken,  and  with  him  the 


prophet  that  wrouglit  miracles  before  liim,  with  which 
he  deceived,  them  that  had  received  the  mark  of  the 
beast,  and  "them  that  worshipped  his  image.  •'These 
bothwere  cast  alive  into  a  lake  of  fire  « burning  with 
brimstone. 


false  prophet  that  wrought  the  signs  in  his  sight, 
wherewith  he  deceived  them  that  had  received  the 
mark  of  the  beast,  and  them  that  worshipped  his 
image :  they  twain  were  cast  alive  into  the  lake  of 


och.  16:  16;  17:  13,  14....6ch.  16:  13,  U c  oh.  13:  12,  15.... d  ch.       :  10.     See  Dan.  7  :  11...  .e  ch.  14:  10;  21:8. 


and  the  flesh  of  captains,  and  the  flesh 
of  mighty  men,  and  the  flesh  of  horses, 
and  of  them  that  sit  on  them,  and  the 
flesh  of  all  men,  both  free  and  bond, 
both  small  and  great.  This  is  simply  car- 
rying out  the  imagery  of  the  whole  passage. 
The  picture  is  of  a  great  battle,  which  results 
in  the  absolute  annihilation  of  the  enemy. 
The  kings,  the  captains,  the  great  warriors, 
soldiery  of  every  grade  and  class,  "bond  and 
free,  small  and  great,"  lie  slaughtered  on  the 
field.  This  result  of  the  struggle  is  announced 
by  anticipation,  in  the  summons  of  the  angel. 

19.  And  I  saw  the  beast,  and  the  kings 
of  the  earth,  and  their  armies,  gathered 
together  to  make  war  against  him  that 
sat  on  the  horse,  and  against  his  army. 
What  had  been  thus  anticipated  and  an- 
nounced, is  now  to  take  place. 

20.  And  the  beast  was  taken,  and  with 
him  the  false  prophet  that  wrought  mira- 
cles before  him.  '^That  wrought  the  signs 
in  his  sight,''  or,  "in  his  prese7ice,"  is  better. 
By  "the  beast,"  we  still  understand  Anti- 
christ, in  the  general  sense  as  that  antichris- 
tian  principle,  or  force,  which  has  survived 
during  so  many  ages,  and  under  so  many 
forms.  "The  false  prophet"  is  to  a  certain 
extent  identified  with  the  second  beast,  or 
corrupt  ecclesiasticism ;  but  it  includes  false- 
ness in  religion  of  every  kind  and  name.  It 
is  the  personification  of  that  spirit  of  lies  and 
deception  which  has  been  so  long  in  the 
world,  and  which,  as  we  have  seen,  has  fresh 
and  various  manifestation  in  the  last  times. 
These  two,  Antichrist  and  the  false  prophet, 
the  imper.sonation  of  hostility  and  the  imper- 
sonation of  deceit,  are  in  closest  alliance.  It 
is  Pilate,  as  representing  the  haughty  and 
godless  impersonation  of  world-power,  and 
Herod,  as  reprtfsenting  perverted  theocracy, 
re-appetiring  in  immensely  increased  propor- 
tions, and  under  other  and  yet  more  sinister 
names.  Notice  that  the  false  prophet  per- 
forms his  pretended  miracles  "in  the  sight," 


"in  the  presence"  of  the  beast.  Whatever 
form  falseness,  in  either  organization  or  in 
doctrine,  may  take,  it  is  in  the  interest  of  the 
world-long  antichristian  war  upon  the  king- 
dom of  God.  By  the  "miracles,"  or  "signs" 
(aijjueia),  are  meant  the  pretended  miracles,  the 
legends,  the  sophistries — all  that  parapherna- 
lia of  deception  in  which  Satanic  art  and  per- 
verted human  craft,  working  together,  might 
seem  to  have  exhausted  the  whole  armory  of 
lies. — With  which  he  deceived  them  that 
had  received  the  mark  of  the  beast.  A 
most  significant  clause.  Only  those  who  have 
the  mark  of  the  beast  can  be  deceived  by 
such  "lying  wonders,"  or  such  sophistries  as 
those  which  the  false  prophet  practices.  "The 
wise  shall  understand."  Those  "led  captive 
by  the  devil"  are  "willingly"  so.  E%'ery 
kind  of  depraved  tendency,  and  every  form 
of  pre-disposition  on  the  side  of  error  and 
sin  is,  so  far,  "the  mark  of  the  beast,"  be- 
cause it  is,  so  far,  a  sign  that  we  belong — not 
to  God — but  to  the  enemy  of  God.— And  them 
that  worshipped  his  image.  The  image 
of  the  beast  is  thtit  usurped  power  which  he 
exercises  in  the  interest  of  this  war  upon  the 
people  and  Kingdom  of  God.  The  second 
beast,  we  are  told  (ch.i3:i4),  compelled  them 
that  dwell  on  the  earth  to  "make  an  image 
to  the  beast."  In  ancient  times  the  image, 
or  statue,  of  the  Roman  Emperor  was  made  an 
object  of  worship.  In  numerous  cases  Chri.s- 
tians  suffered  death  because  of  their  refusal  to 
join  in  this  degrading  idolatry.  Papal  abso- 
lutism was  the  image  or  reproduction  of  im- 
perial absolutism.  Kindred  in  nature  is  that 
dominance  over  the  faith  of  mankind  which 
every  manner  of  false  teaching  claims.  When 
it  cannot  oppress  in  ordinary  forms  of  ]>erse- 
cution,  it  over-awes  by  other  means ;  and  by 
sneers,  and  derision,  and  mockery,  seeks  to 
intimidate  when  it  cannot  convince.  It  is  all 
"the  image  of  the  beast"  ;  and  they  who  yield, 
whether  to  the  tyranny  of  popes,  or  to  infidel 
reviling,   bow  down   to   "the    image  of   the 


Ch.  XIX.] 


REVELATION. 


269 


21  And  the  remnant  "were  slain  with  the  sword  of 
him  tluit  sat  upon  the  horse,  which  sirord  proceeded 
out  of  his  mouth:  'and  all  the  fowls  "were  tilled  with 
their  flesh. 


21  tire  that  burneth  with  brimstone:  and  the  rest  wore 
killed  with  the  sword  of  him  that  sut  upon  the 
horse,  eoen  ttic,  .sword  which  came  forth  out  of  his 
mouth :  and  all  the  birds  were  tilled  with  *heir  fiesh. 


over.  15.... 6  ver.  17  :  18.... cell.  17:  16. 


beast."  It  is  such  as  these  that  the  false  pro- 
phet deceives. — These  both  were  cast  alive 
into  a  lake  of  fire  burning  with  brimstone. 

"7%e  lake  of  fire  that  burneth^''  is  a  more 
exact  representation  of  tlie  Greelt.  This,  of 
course,  is  imagery,  and  denotes  utter  and  com- 
plete annihilation.  Fire  itself  consumes;  the 
element  of  brimstone  adds  intensity  to  the 
flame,  and  makes  it  utterly  destructive.  The 
force  of  the  representation  is,  that  the  beast  and 
the  false  prophet  now  come  to  a  complete  and 
utter  perdition.  [Is  this  certain?  i.  e.,  if  we 
understand  "complete  perdition"  to  be  annihi- 
lation. If,  in  the  imagery  of  the  vision,  "the 
beast"  and  "the  false  prophet"  are  living, 
and  extremely  sinful  beings,  it  is  surely  pos- 
sible that  "the  lake  of  fire  that  burneth  with 
brimstone,"  is  conceived  of  as  a  source  of 
suftering  rather  than  of  annihilation  (compare 

Luke  16;  23,  24,  28,  and  the  eNposiiion  of  Rev.  20:  10,  14,  15).       To 

say  that  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet  are 
not  reallj'  single  persons,  is  of  course,  no  objec- 
tion to  this  view.  In  the  symbolism  they  are 
living  beings,  personal  and  sinful,  and  must 
be  conceived  of  as  such  when  cast  into  the 
lake  of  fire,  which  is  itself  a  part  of  the  sym- 
bolism.— A.  H.] 

21.  And  the  remnant  Avere  slain  Avith 
the  SAVord  of  him  that  sat  upon  the 
horse,  Avhich  sAVord  proceeded  out  of 
his  month  ;  and  all  the  foAvIs  [birds]  Avere 
filled  Avith  their  flesh.  "The  remnant' 
means  the  followers  of  the  beast  and  the  false 
prophet — those  who  fought  upon  their  side, 
"What  was  announced  by  the  angel  in  his 
summons  to  all  birds  of  prey  now  comes  to 
pass.  The  result  of  the  struggle  is  utter  de- 
struction for  those  who  fought  against  the 
rider  upon  the  white  hor.se.  This  victory  is 
complete  ;  the  field  is  swept  clear  of  enemies; 
not  one  is  left  to  continue  the  fearful  strife. 
Under  imagery  so  intense  and  tremendous,' is 
represented  to  us  the  final  triumph  of  that 
gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  whose  beginnings  were 
so  glorious,  whose  ordeal  was  so  severe,  whose 
vicissitudes  have  been  so  great,  often  so  appa- 
rently threatening;  but  whose  issue  is  the 
salvation  of  all  the  "called  and  chosen  and 
faithful,"  the  discomfiture  of  beast  and  false 


prophet  alike,  and  the  hopeless  ruin  of  all 
who  have  been  with  them  in  their  war  against 
God's  Kingdom  and  God's  truth. 

GENERAL    COMMENTS. 

The  bearing  of  what  appears  in  this  chapter 
upon  questions  that  will  arise  in  the  study  of 
the  next,  ought  to  be  especially  noted.  The 
chapter,  in  every  part  of  it,  presents  to  view  a 
consummation — a  consummation  variously  in- 
dicated, and  in  which  various  parts  of  the 
divine  plan  are  seen  in  triumphant  execution. 
One  of  these  is  revealed  to  us  in  the  theme  of 
the  heavenly  song  with  which  the  chapter 
opens.  In  chapters  seventeen  and  eighteen, 
mystical  Babylon,  the  Rome  of  the  Papacy — 
that  great  apostasy  whose  career  has  filled  so 
large  a  part  of  the  whole  period  of  the  Chris- 
tian Dispensation,  and  through  which  such 
dishonor  and  damage  have  been  wrought — this 
mystical  Babylon,  whether  in  its  symbol  of 
the  harlot  sorceress  or  that  of  the  powerful 
and  rich,  the  corrupt  and  corrupting  city,  is 
discovered  to  us,  alike  in  its  power  and  its 
decline,  its  prosperity  and  its  final  overthrow. 
The  doom  of  Babylon,  then,  at  the  opening 
of  the  nineteenth  chapter,  becomes  the  theme 
of  heavenly  song,  in  which  all  God's  "ser- 
vants" inearth  and  heaven  join.  Herein  is 
one  part  of  the  consummittion.  This  "mys- 
tery of  God"  is  herein  completely  "finished." 
His  design  in  permitting  the  rise  and  reign  of 
such  an  evil  power  is  fully  accomplished,  and 
now,  "at  the  blast  of  the  breath  of  his  nos- 
trils," what  seemed  so  mighty  and  so  endur- 
ing, vanishes  "as  the  chaff  of  the  summer 
threshing-floor." 

And  now  appears  another  consummation. 
"  The  marriage  of  the  Lamb  is  come,  and  his 
bride  hath  made  herself  ready."  In  other 
words,  tlie  ends  of  the  Dispensation,  in  prepar- 
ing for  the  church,  as  including  the  Lord's 
redeemed  people  of  all  ages,  a  glorious  and 
happy  era,  have  now  been  accomplished.  To 
this  Bride  of  the  Lamb  "  it  is  given  that  she 
should  array  herself  in  fine  linen,  bright  and 
pure,"  which  is  the  "righteousness  of  the 
saints."  Not  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  has 
passed  its  earthly  period,  or  the  redeemed  all 


270 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIX. 


been  gathered  home  in  final  holiness  and  happi- 
ness— for  there  are  yet  to  be  the  thousand  years 
of  the  millennium — and  after  thatanother,  and 
a  final  great  struggle  and  victory.  But  in  the 
destruction  of  the  corrupting  harlot,  one 
source  of  damage  to  the  Christianity  of  the 
world  is  taken  finally  away.  In  the  overthrow 
of  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet,  others  are 
soon  to  be  removed.  Accompanying  these 
deliverances,  we  may  suppose  that  there  shall 
be  peculiar  gifts  of  grace  and  spiritual  power 
sent  from  above  ;  the  negative  aspects  of  the 
new  era  being  accompanied  by  conspicuous 
positive  features,  and  the  Christian  world  be- 
coming at  last  what  the  gospel  ideal  has  all 
along  required.  The  redeemed  on  earth  and 
the  redeemed  in  heaven  are  more  truly  "one 
family";  the  church  above  and  the  church 
below  become  in  a  pre-eminent  sense  "one 
church  of  the  Living  God."  It  is  the  era  of 
consummation  in  grace  and  redemption. 
During  long  ages  of  betrothal  the  Lamb  had 
waited  for  his  Bride.  She  "hath"  now 
"made  herself  ready";  and  "blessed,"  in- 
deed, "are  they  who  are  called  to  the  mar- 
riage-supper." 

Simultaneously  with  all  this  occurs  the 
overthrow  and  final  destruction  of  the  beast 
and  the  false  prophet.  We  understand  bj'  the 
symbol  of  the  white  horse  and  his  rider,  with 
the  glorious  retinue  accompanying,  exactly 
this  of  which  we  have  just  been  speaking, 
only  seen  now  under  a  new  aspect.  The 
symbol  of  the  bride  and  the  marriage-supper 
presents  to  view  the  Lamb's  redeeming  work 
iji  its  happy  and  glorious  consummation. 
The  symbol  of  the  horse  and  his  crowned 
rider  presents  to  view  the  same  exalted 
being  riding  forth  to  take  possession  of  the 
world  itself,  which  he  has  also  redeemed. 
The  names  he  bears  declare  alike  who  he  is 
and  why  he  comes.  He  is  Faithful  and  True 
— the  trust,  and  hope,  and  joy  of  his  people 
in  all  ages.  He  is  the  Word,  the  God  mani- 
fest. "No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time; 
the  only-begott£n  Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Father,  he  hath  declared  him."  Now, 
in  these  last  days,  the  Word  of  God,  in  him- 
self a  consummation  of  gospel  promise  and 
provision,  comes  forth  upon  the  scene  with 
attendant  efficacies  of  divine  power  which 
carry  all  before  them.  He  is  King  of  kings 
and  Lord  of  lords.  This  world,  so  long  the 
scene  of  usurped  dominion,  belongs  to  him. 


He  comes  now  again  to  his  own,  and  his  own 
will  now  receive  him.  The  beast  and  the 
false  prophet  are  consumed  with  the  breath 
of  his  mouth,  and  destroyed  with  the  bright- 
ness of  his  coming.  A  triumphant  gospel, 
made  mighty  through  God  to  the  pulling 
down  of  strongholds,  gains  final  and  consum- 
mating victories  so  absolutely  complete,  that 
no  form  of  symbolical  representation  can 
adequately  depict  them  save  that  of  a  field  of 
battle  piled  with  slaughtered  foes,  kings  and 
their  armies,  the  chief  captains  and  the  hosts 
they  led  all  dead  on  the  field,  while  the  in- 
stigators of  the  rebellion  thus  finally  crushed, 
beast  and  false  prophet,  are  led  captive  in 
chains,  and  as  their  final  doom  cast  into  the 
burning  lake. 

This  is,  therefore,  the  consummation.  It  is 
the  climax  of  the  present  Dispensation ;  it  is 
the  gospel  in  its  final  triumph.  The  mil- 
lennium is  prepared.  The  opening  of  the 
next  chapter  shows  us  Satan  himself  chained 
and  shut  up  in  a  sealed  prison.  Nothing  is 
then  left  to  hurt  or  destroy,  in  all  God's  holy 
mountain.  The  wolf  henceforth  shall  dwell 
with  the  lamb,  and  the  leopard  shall  lie  down 
with  the  kid ;  and  the  calf  and  the  young 
lion  and  the  fatling  together;  and  a  little 
child  shall  lead  them.  For  he  has  come  who 
with  righteousness  shall  judge  the  poor,  and 
reprove  with  equity  for  the  meek  of  the  earth. 
Righteousness  is  the  girdle  of  his  loins,  and 
faithfulness  the  girdle  of  his  reins — the  Won- 
derful, the  Counsellor,  the  Everlasting  Father, 
and  the  Prince  of  Peace. 

It  will  be  seen  that  we  understand  this  com- 
ing of  the  Lord,  foreshadowed  in  the  rider 
on  the  white  horse,  as  a  spiritual  coming. 
The  consistency  of  the  symbolism  requires 
that  we  shall  interpret  what  is  seen  in  this 
part  of  the  vision  in  harmony  with  that  other 
appearance  at  the  opening  of  the  first  seal, 
under  which  was  presented  to  view  a  tri- 
umphing gospel  in  its  first  era.  That  was  the 
truth  winning  victories;  this  is  the  truth, 
symbolically  impersonated  in  him  who  is 
himself  the  Truth,  winning  a  more  resplen- 
dent and  a  final  victory.  We  believe  it  to  be 
in  the  purpose  of  God  that  this  honor  shall 
be  given  to  his  revealed  word,  and  to  the 
institutions  and  forces  of  Christianity;  that 
hy  these  the  ultimate  achievement  shall  be 
gained.  After  ages  of  reproach  and  of  hard 
struggle  against  every  manner  of  opposing 


Ch.  XX.] 


REVELATION. 


271 


AND  I  saw  an  angel  come  down  from  heaven,  "  having 
the  key  of  the  bottomless  pit  and  a  great  chain  in 
his  hand. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

1     And  I  saw  an  angel  coming  down  out  of  heaven, 
having  the  key  of  the  abyss  and  a  great  chain  '  in 


I  ch.  1 :  18 ;  9  :  1. 1  Gr.  upon. 


force,  we  believe  it  to  be  in  his  purpose  to 
justify  that  courageous  utterance  of  the  great 
apostle,  which  has  been  since  on  the  lips  of  so 
many:  "I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ;  for  it  is  the  power  of  God  unto  sal- 
vation.'' To  us  it  would  seem  almost  like  a 
confession  of  defeat,  if  those  methods  of  di- 
vine grace  in  operation  so  long  were  suddenly 
to  be  displaced,  and  a  new  dispensation,  under 
other  auspices,  take  possession  of  the  field. 
The  millennium,  in  our  view,  will  be  brought 
on  by  the  same  means  as  have  been  employed 
in  all  ages  of  the  gospel  history,  so  that  the 
truth  and  its  instrumentalities — truth  as  it  is 
fn  Jesus,  and  the  church  bought  with  his 
blood — may  stand  forever  vindicated. 

How  much  of  detailed  event  may  be  re- 
garded as  implied  in  the  general  picture  given 
us  in  this  chapter,  it  is  impossible  to  say.  It 
is  the  opinion  of  Elliott,  and  others  seem  to 
share  his  view,  that  the  occurrence  of  the 
Hebrew  word,  "Alleluia,"  in  the  song  of 
praise  at  the  opening  of  the  chapter,  hints  at 
that  important  event,  the  conversion  of  the 
Jews.  His  words  are:  "I  infer  that  the 
Jews  will  probably  just  at,  or  after  this  catas- 
trophe [the  fall  of  Babylon],  be  converted 
(conjunctively  with  a  vast  number  of  Gen- 
tiles), the  completed  outpouring  of  the  seven 
vials  having  marked  the  time  for  it;  and  join, 
and  indeed  take  the  lead  in,  the  earthly 
church's  song  of  praise  on  the  occasion:  the 
language  used  to  designate  this  song  in  the 
Apocalyptic  prefigurations,  being  now  for  the 
first  time  Hebrew,  Hnllelujah ;  a  circumstance 
very  remarkable,  and  noted  by  manj'  previous 
commentators  as  having  the  meaning  I  sug- 
gest— not  to  add  that  its  probability  is  en- 
hanced, as  I  think,  by  the  fact  that  the  Jews 
themselves,  at  least,  some  of  the  most  learned 
of  their  Rabbis,  have  supposed  that  the  res- 
toration of  their  people  is  to  follow  on  the 
fall  of  Rome."  He  notes,  as  agreeing  with 
him  in  this  view,  Brightman,  Vitringa,  Dau- 
buz,  and  others.  Perhaps  the  suggestion 
should  not  be  hastily  dismissed.  The  remark- 
able preservation  of  the  Jewish  nationality, 
in  spite  of  the  wide  and  prolonged  dispersion, 


seems  to  point  toward  some  as  yet  unfulfilled 
purpose  in  the  original  calling  of  that  people. 
The  ancient  prophecies,  so  long  interpreted 
as  promising  a  restoration  of  the  Jews  to  their 
own  land,  and  their  re-establishment  as  a 
nation,  would  seem  to  imply,  at  least,  that  as 
a  people,  they  are  one  day  to  "return  and 
come"  to  the  spiritual  "  Zion,  with  songs  and 
everlasting  joy  upon  their  heads";  while 
Paul's  words,  in  Rom.  11:  15-21,  appear  to 
teach  that  there  is  to  come  a  "receiving"  of 
these  once  so  "cast  awa}%"  which  is  to  be  not 
only  to  them,  but  to  the  Gentile  world  as  well, 
as  "life  from  the  dead."  Our  own  belief  is 
that  in  the  consummation  of  which  we  have 
spoken,  the  Jews,  as  converted,  and  so 
"graffed  in,"  are  to  share,  and  in  a  way  to 
signalize  in  some  remarkable  manner,  divine 
purposes  of  grace  toward  that  people  and  to- 
ward the  world. 

Other  thoughts,  suggested  in  a  general  way 
by  the  chapter  we  have  studied,  may  present 
themselves  more  appropriately  in  the  consid- 
eration of  that  which  now  follows,  and  whose 
connection  with  this  one  should  be  particularly 
remarked. 

MILLENNIUM    AND    FINAL    JUDG- 
MENT. 

1-3.  The  Binding  of  the  Dragon. 

1.  And  I  saw  an  angel  come  down  from 
heaven,  having  the  key  of  the  bottomless 
pit  [of  the  abyss]  and  a  great  chain  in  his 

hand.  "  Corninff  down  out  of  heaveii^' ;  the 
angel  is  again  seen  in  the  act  of  descending. 
The  chain  is  "upon"  his  hand,  "as  a  chain 
naturally  would  be,"  says  Alford.  Many 
commentators  —  Hengstenberg  among  the 
moderns  —  think  that  the  angel  is  Christ. 
There  is  no  good  reason  for  this,  or  for  view- 
ing the  angelic  appearance  in  this  case  other- 
wise than  in  former  passages.  By  the 
"abyss"  in  many  places  in  this  book  (as in 9. i; 
11:7;  17:8),  the  abodc  of  Satan  and  all  evil 
spirits  is  meant.  The  mention  of  their  abode 
as  a  place,  ought,  probably,  to  be  regarded  as 
belonging  to  the  sj^mbolism  of  the  book,  and 
must  not  be  treated  in  a  way  too  realistic. 


272 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XX. 


2  And  he  laid  hold  on  "the  dragon,  that  old  serpent, 
which  is  the  Devil,  and  Satan,  and  bound  him  a  thou- 
sand years, 

a  And  cast  him  into  the  bottomless  pit,  and  shut  him 
up,  and 'set  a  seal  upon  him,  <^ that  he  should  deceive 
the  nations  no  more,  till  the  thousand  years  should  be 
fulfilled :    and  after  that    he   must   be   loosed   a  little 


2  his  hand.  And  he  laid  hold  on  the  dragon,  the  old 
serpent,  which  is  the  Devil  and  Satan,  and  bound 

3  him  for  a  thousand  years,  and  cast  him  into  the 
abyss,  and  shut  it,  and  scaled  il  over  him,  that  he 
should  deceive  the  nations  no  more,  until  the  thou- 
sand years  should  be  finished:  after  this  he  must  be 
loosed  for  a  little  time. 


a  ch.  12:  9.     See  2  Pel.  2:4;  Jude  6 6  Dan.  6:  17 cch.  16:  U,  16:  vev. 


So,  likewise,  with  the  chain  on  the  hand  of 
the  angel,  and,  indeed,  the  scenery  and  action 
of  the  whole  vision. 

2.  And  he  laid  hold  on  the  dragon,  that 
old  serpent,  which  is  the  Devil  and 
Satan.  We  readily  recall  the  previous 
mention  of  the  dragon,  in  chapter  twelve. 
In  ver.  9  of  that  chapter  he  is  identified  in 
exactly  the  same  terms  as  here — "that  old 
serpent,  called  the  Devil  and  Satan,"  with 
the  added  words,  "  which  deceiveth  the  whole 
world."  It  is  there  told  how  he  was  "cast 
out  into  the  earth,  and  his  angels  with  him." 
We  have  since  been  told  much  of  his  ravage 
as  the  instigator  of  all  the  worst  things  done 
on  the  earth,  especially  by  his  own  instru- 
ments, the  beast  and  the  false  prophet.  He  is 
the  Devil— "the  ftilse  accuser,"  "the  slan- 
derer," and  Satan,  "the  adversary,'  "the 
enemy."  His  dragon  form  well  befits  his 
nature. — And  bound  him  a  thousand 
years.  Treating  this  language  as  sjnnbolical 
— as  we  ought  to  do — we  understand  by  it  an 
eflfectual  restraint  applied  to  that  evil  of  the 
world,  Satanic  in  origin,  through  which  such 
fearful  ravage  has  been  wrought.  Some 
part  of  this  merciful  interposition  is  de- 
scribed for  us  in  the  previous  chapter.  The 
beast  and  the  false  prophet.  Antichrist  in  the 
various  forms  of  his  operation,  have  been 
overthrown  and  destroyed.  And  now  a  like 
fate  awaits  him  whose  instruments  these  were, 
and  who  gave  to  them  "his  power,  his  seat, 
and  his  great  authority."  For  the  present, 
he  is  simply  chained  and  imprisoned.  There 
is  to  be  for  him  one  more  opportunity  of  mis- 
chief, as  is  intimated  below.  Then  will  come, 
for  him  also,  a  final  overthrow.  Whether 
the  thousand  years  should  be  understood  as 
indicating  an  e.xact  period  of  that  length,  is 
doubtful.  It  has  usually  been  so  understood  ; 
the  tendency  of  opinion  among  commenta- 
tors, at  present,  is  to  view  it  as  denoting  in 
general  a  long  extended  period,  with  fixed 
and  definite  bounds,  and  within  which  certain 
great  designs  of  God  shall  be  brought  to  a 


full  consummation.  If  any  prefer  to  regard 
it  as  an  exact  thousand  years,  and  so  to  apply 
to  it  in  a  strict  sense  the  word  "  millennium," 
we  can  see  no  serious  objection  to  the  view. 

3.  And  cast  him  into  the  bottomless 
pit  [the  abyss],  and  shut  him  up  and  set  a 
seal  upon  him  [shut  it  and  sealed  it  over 
him].  We  must  treat  this  as  imagery,  con- 
sistently with  the  almost  universal  law  of 
interpretation  for  this  book.  The  imagery 
however  is  intense  and  vividly  suggestive. 
That  interposition  of  divine  power  which 
now  puts  the  evil  of  the  world  under  rigorous 
restraint,  is  mighty  and  effective.  Antichris- 
tian  systems,  not  only,  are  brought  to  nought, 
but  the  myriad  forms  of  temptation  and  in- 
stigation in  which  men  have  been  assailed 
are  made  to  cease,  while,  in  a  like  proportion, 
the  good,  the  true,  and  the  beneficent  have 
scope  and  power.  While  there  is  no  reason 
to  think  that  exactly  what  the  vision  sets 
forth  will  literally  occur,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  author  of  evil,  and  all  the 
agencies  and  methods  through  which  for 
thousands  of  years  he  has  wrought  such  in- 
finite mischief,  will  be  as  effectually  put  down 
and  held  in  check  as  if  the  binding,  the  im- 
prisoning, and  the  sealing  were  to  occur  pre- 
cisely as  they  appear  in  the  vision. — That  he 
should  deceive  the  nations  no  more.  In 
ch.  12:  9,  it  is  said  of  him  that  he  "deceiveth 
the  whole  world."  The  omnipresent  activity 
of  Satan  and  his  instruments,  so  far  as  this 
world  is  concerned,  is  here  distinctly  indi- 
cated. What  a  change  it  must  be  when  this 
ceases,  and  Satanic  agency  becomes  among 
men  a  thing  unknown  ! — Till  the  thousand 
years  should  be  fulfilled  [should  he  fin- 
ished]', and  after  that  he  must  be  loosed 
for  a  little  season.  As  intimated  above, 
the  dragon  does  not  at  once  meet  the  fate  of 
the  beast  and  the  false  prophet.  This  which 
comes  before  us  in  the  present  chapter  is  not 
&  final  finishing  of  "the  mystery  of  God"; 
at  least  until  we  come  to  the  closing  verses  of 
it.     The  millennium  is  not  the  absolute  com- 


Ch.  XX.] 


REVELATION; 


273 


4  And  I  saw  "thrones,  and  they  sat  upon  them,  and 
^judgment  was  given  unto  them:  and  J mw  "the  souls 
of  theiu  that  were  beheaded  lor  the  witness  of  Jesus, 
and  for  the  word  of  God,  and  ■' which  had  not  wor- 
shipped the  beast, 'neither  his  image,  neither  had  re- 
ceived A(\smark  upon  their  foreheads,  or  in  their  hands; 
and  they  lived  and  /reigned  with  Christ  a  thousand 
years. 


4  And  I  saw  thrones,  and  they  sat  upon  them,  and 
judgment  was  given  unto  them  ;  and  /  saw  the  souls 
of  them  that  had  been  beheaded  for  the  testimony  of 
Jesus,  and  for  the  word  of  (lod,  and  such  as  wor- 
shipped not  the  beast,  neither  his  image,  and  re- 
ceived not  the  mark  upon  their  forehead  and  upon 
their  hand;  and  they  lived,  and  reigned  with  Christ 


a  Dau.  7  :  9,  22,  27  ;  Matt.  19  :  28  ;  Luke  22  :  30. 


..6  1  Cor.  6:2,  3....ceh.6:9....dch.  13:  12....e  ch.  13 :  15,16. 
2  Tim.  2  :  12  ;  ch.  5 :  10. 


./Rom.  8:  17; 


pletion  of  God's  designs  as  regards  the  world 
and  men.  It  is  an  era  in  the  history  and 
progress  of  his  kingdom,  but  there  is  to  be  a 
history  beyond  it.  In  it  we  see  those  minis- 
tries of  redemption  which,  during  centuries 
and  under  conditions  so  adverse  in  many 
ways,  had  seemed  to  operate  under  such  dis- 
advantage and  with  comparatively  limited 
result — in  the  millennium  we  perceive  these 
in  operation  with  the  power  and  effect  prop- 
erly belonging  to  them,  and  with  those  hin- 
drances again.?t  which  they  had  contended 
so  long  taken  out  of  the  way.  But  there 
will  be  one  more  uprising  of  evil  before  the 
final  end  comes — Satan  is  once  more  to  be 
"loosed."  Yet  only  "for  a  little  season"  — 
"a  little  time,"  as  the  revision  more  exactly 
expresses  it. 

4.  The  Millennial  Reign.  And  I  saw 
thrones,  and  they  sat  upon  them.  What 
follows,  now,  is  a  natural  sequence  of  the 
binding  of  Satan.  "With  the  dragon,  the  beast, 
and  the  false  prophet  removed  from  the 
scene,  a  great  change  comes  to  the  earth  and 
to  men.  As  one  element  of  this  change — its 
chief  element — the  kingdom  of  God  is  mani- 
fested in  peculiar  power.  At  the  opening  of 
that  other  great  era  which  ushered  in  the 
Dispensation — now,  in  one  phase  of  it,  closed 
— it  was  said,  "The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at 
hand.  '  There  were  those  then  living  who,  as 
our  Lord  declared  they  would,  saw  that  king- 
dom come  with  pOwer— in  the  resurrection  and 
ascension  of  the  Christ,  and  in  the  miraculous 
outpouring  of  the  Spirit.  The  millennial  era 
is  signalized  in  a  like  way.  "I  saw  thrones," 
John  says,  in  declaring  to  us  the  vision  in 
which  the  opening  glories  of  this  great  epoch 
were  made  to  appear.  These  "thrones  "  sym- 
bolized the  manifestation  of  the  kingdom  in 
new  power  and  splendor.  The  words  "and 
they  sat  upon  them,"  simply  say,  in  the 
peculiar  style  of  this  book,  that  these  thrones 
were  occupied.  The  "  they  "  is  indefinite,  and 
having  no  antecedent,  cannot  be  understood 


as  indicating  who  these  enthroned  ones  were. 
The  expression  appears  to  be  used  merely  to 
say  to  us  that  the  thrones  were  not  empty. 
—And  judgment   was  given   unto   them. 

To  the  occupants  of  the  thrones.  Not  final 
"judgment,"  surely ;  this  is  reserved  for  the 
occupant  of  another  throne,  "  the  great  white 
throne,"  described  in  the  end  of  the  chapter. 
Some  assistance,  at  this  point,  may  be  gained 
from  a  parallel  passage  in  Daniel  (oh.  7 :  21, 22). "  I 
beheld,  and  the  same  horn" — the  little  horn 
described  in  the  previous  verse — "made  war 
with  the  saints,  and  prevailed  against  them ; 
until  the  Ancient  of  Days  came,  and  judg- 
ment was  given  to  the  saints  of  the  Most 
High  ;  and  the  time  came  that  the  saints  pos- 
sessed the  kingdom."  The  sinister  power 
here  described— "the  little  horn"— we  have 
seen  much  of,  under  the  symbol  of  the  beast, 
in  previous  chapters  of  our  book.  By  the 
coming  of  "the  Ancient  of  Days,"  we  under- 
stand those  signal  interpositions  of  divine 
power  and  supremacy  through  which  all  the 
great  forces  of  opposition  have  been,  at  the 
point  in  Apocalyptic  disclosure  now  reached, 
so  eflTectually  cast  down.  In  the  vision  of 
our  present  chapter,  the  time  has  come  when 
"the  saints  possess  the  kingdom,"  and  "judg-, 
ment  is  given  unto  them."  All  that  is  im- 
ported in  the  word  "judgment,"  as  used  in 
Daniel  and  also  here,  it  may  be  impossible  to 
ascertain.  The  reference  is,  no  doubt,  to  con- , 
ditions  of  the  millennial  life,  most  of  which 
are  quite  beyond  our  power  of  foresight  or 
anticipation.  Lange  says:  "The  entire 
aeon" — the  millennial  age — "is  to  be  con- 
ceived of  as  an  seon  of  separations  and  elimi- 
nations in  an  ethical  and  cosmical  sense — 
separations  and  eliminations  such  as  are  nec- 
essary to  make  manifest  and  to  complete  the 

ideal  regulations  of  life The  reference 

can  only  be  to  a  critical  government  and 
management,  preparatory  to  the  final  con- 
summation." It  is  doubtful  if  the  meaning 
can  be  anything  positively,  least  of  all,  form- 


274 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XX. 


ally  judicial.  It  is,  as  we  conceive  it, 
more  like  the  judgments  mentioned  by  our 
Lord,  in  difl'erent  places  in  the  fifth  of  John. 
The  "Father,"  he  says,  in  ver.  22  of  that 
chapter,  has  "committed  all  judgment 
unto  the  Son"  ;  in  ver.  27,  "has  given  him 
authority  to  execute  judgment,  because  he  is 
the  Son  of  man"  ;  and  in  ver.  30,  he  says, 
"  As  I  hear,  I  judge ;  and  my  judgment  is 
just;  because  I  seek  not  mine  own  will,  but 
the  will  of  him  that  sent  me."  "  Under  the 
economy  of  grace,"  says  Dr.  John  Brown, 
commenting  on  the  passage,  "the  whole 
administration  of  the  divine  moral  govern- 
ment is  put  into  the  hands  of  the  incarnate 
Son — the  glorified  God-man,  Christ  Jesus.  .  . 
The  Fatlier  administers  government,  under 
the  new  economy,  not  directly,  but  by  the 
Son.  Everything  connected  with  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  church  and  of  the  world, 
inclusive  of  the  final  distribution  of  rewards 
and  punishments,  has  been  entrusted  to  him." 
Dr.  Brown  regards  the  word  "judge"  in  this 
passage  quoted  from  the  Gospel,  as  "equiva- 
lent to  'govern — to  rule.'"  Until  the  time 
of  the  millennium,  the  judgment  which  our 
Lord  exercises  is  a  moral  judgment ;  his  own 
character,  his  teachings,  the  institutions  of 
Christianity,  his  religion,  in  short,  judges  the 
world;  arraigns  it,  convicts  it  of  the  wrong 
that  is  in  it;  condemns  it.  We  must  suppose 
that  in  the  millennium  this  becomes  even 
more  conspicuously  true,  and  that  in  it,  then 
as  now,  his  elect  people  will  share.  Even 
now,  they  judge  and  condemn  the  world  in 
proportion  as  they  have  Christ's  truth,  and 
in  their  example  copy  Christ's  life.  When 
the  consummation  comes,  and  the  gospel 
reign  is  fully  established,  this  judgment  will  be 
even  more  expressed,  decided,  and  conclusive. 
The  millennium  itself  will  judge  all  the 
former  ages;  and  they  who  have  part  therein 
will,  in  all  that  belongs  to  them  as  the  Lord's 
redeemed  people,  pass  judgment  upon  that 
old,  sinful,  unhajjpy  world,  in  which,  during 
so  many  centuries,  the  dragon,  the  beast,  and 
the  false  jjrnphet  contended  with  the  right- 
ful Sovereign  for  su))reniacy. — And  I  saw 
the  souls  of  them  that  were  beheaded 
for  the  witness  of  Jesus,  and  for  the 
word  of  (iod,  and  which  had  not  wor- 
shipped the  beast,  neither  his  image, 
neither  had  received  his  mark  upon 
their  foreheads,  or  in  their  hands  [and 


upon  thei:  hands].  These  words  refer  us, 
clearly,  to  what  has  gone  before  in  descrip- 
tions of  the  ordeals  endured  by  the  Lord's 
faithful  ones  during  many  ages,  and  their 
fidelity  under  them.  Literally,  "them  that 
had  been  beheaded  (■imti\tKiay.ivuiv),''  would 
read  "them  that  had  been  smitten  (or  slain) 
with  the  axe."  In  a  former  allusion  to  these 
martyrs  {ch.6:9),  a  different  word  is  used— 
(e<r</)a7/x«i'to)>') — meaning  literally, "slain  by  cut- 
ting the  throat."  The  two  descriptions  of 
the  manner  of  death  are  substantially  iden- 
tical. The  allusion  is,  in  the  two  places,  quite 
clearly,  to  the  same  class — those  who  suffered 
a  violent  death  "  for  the  witness  of  Jesus  and 
for  the  word  of  God."  The  rendering  of 
what  follows  in  the  revision  makes  the 
meaning  much  more  clear  than  that  of  the 
old  version.  The  form  of  the  latter  might 
indicate  that  this  following  clause  should  be 
treated  as  appositional  with  that  which  pre- 
cedes, and  be  regarded  as  describing  the  same 
class  of  martj'red  saints.  A  different  sense 
is  afforded  by  the  translation  —  doubtless  a 
correct  one — ''^  and  such  as  (oiripes)."  The 
words  show  that  besides  those  who  had  suffered 
martyrdom,  ftYZ  those  were  seen  who  had  not 
worshiped  the  beast,  nor  worn  his  mark,  nor 
bowed  down  to  his  image — that  is  to  say,  all 
the  faithful  of  former  ages.  John  sees  "  the 
souls  "  of  these.  It  is  not  as  in  ver  12  of  this 
chapter,  where  he  says,  "I  saw  the  dead,  the 
small  and  the  great,  standing  before  the 
throne." — And  they  lived  and  reigned 
with  Christ  a  thousand  years.  The  word 
here  translated  "lived,"  (e^ijo-of),  does  not 
mean  "lived  again,"  (ivei-ntrav).  There  is  no 
mention  of  a  resurrection  in  this  fourth  verse. 
These  now  described  we  understand  to  be 
those  mentioned  in  the  beginning  of  the 
verse:  "I  saw  thrones,  and  they  sat  upon 
them,  and  judgment  was  given  unto  them." 
The  occupants  of  the  thrones  are  Christ  and 
his  redeemed  people.  In  other  words,  in  the 
millennial  age,  the  kingdom  of  (Jod  has 
achieved  such  consummation  of  all  its  great 
designs  that  the  positions  of  absolute  suprem- 
acy in  the  world,  the  reigning  influences, 
government,  administration,  all  the  forces 
that  control  individual,  social,  and  political 
life,  are  so  in  the  hands  of  Christ  as  King, 
and  of  his  people  as  "with  him,"  that  they 
may  truly  be  said  to  "reign."  It  is  a  condi- 
tion,  the  exact  contrast  of  that  which  now 


Ch.  XX.] 


REVELATIOK 


275 


■■5  But  the  rest  of  the  dead  lived  not  aRain  until  the 
thousand  years  were  finished.  This  is  the  first  resur- 
rection. 


5  a  thousand  years.    The  rest  of  the  dead  lived  not 
until  the  thousand  years  should  be  finislied.    Thi« 


appears,  where  every  step  of  progress  in 
Christ's  kingdom  is  contested,  and  the  seats 
of  power  are  so  often  filled  by  his  enemies. 
In  the  millennium  this  shall  no  longer  be. 
The  earth  "filled  with  the  knowledge  of 
God,"  the  forces  of  evil  either  annihilated  or 
chained,  truth  triumphant,  and  righteousness 
and  peace  prevailing,  the  gospel  ideal  will 
be  seen,  no  longer  as  a  hope,  but  as  a  reality. 
5.  But  the  rest  of  the  dead  lived  not 
again  until  the  thousand  years  were 
finished.  "But"  should  be  omitted,  as  in 
the  revision.  '^  Should  be  finished''  is  better 
than  "were  finished."  The  words  in  the 
Greek  here  translated  "lived  not  again," 
mean  simply  "lived  not,"  and  the  revision, 
as  will  be  seen,  so  translates.  There  is  no 
word  in  the  Greek  for  "again."  Whether 
the  language  used  shall  be  taken  as  equivalent 
to  "lived  not  again  until,"  etc.,  and  so  as  im- 
plying actual  bodily  resurrection,  is  not  en- 
tirely clear.  If  the  passage  in  John  5:  25,  28, 
29,  be  taken  as  in  some  sense  the  basis  of  this, 
the  resurrection,  here  mentioned,  must  be 
bodily  and  literal,  since  in  that  former  passage 
the  antithesis  is,  first  a  spiritual  life  from  the 
dead,  and  second,  a  coming  to  life  of  "all 
that  are  in  their  graves."  If,  besides,  the 
words  "the  rest  of  the  dead  lived  not  until," 
etc.,  be  understood  of  a  literal  resurrection, 
they  must  be  anticipative  of  what  appears  in 
the  closing  verses  of  this  chapter.  The  whole 
representation,  then,  as  regards  the  first  and 
the  second  resurrection,  will  stand  thus  :  That 
period  of  gospel  consummation  which  we 
understand  to  be  meant  in  what  is  termed 
"the  millennium,"  is  brought  on  by  an 
overwhelming  and  triumphant  manifestation 
of  divine  power  in  connection  with  evangeli- 
cal agency  and  effort;  this  being  indicated,  at 
the  close  of  the  nineteenth  chapter,  by  the 
victories  of  the  crowned  rider  upon  the  white 
horse,  with  the  armies  of  heaven  following 
him.  The  effect  is  to  not  only  greatly  multi- 
ply throughout  the  world  the  number  of 
believers  so  as  to  place  them  in  the  immense 
majority,  but  to  so  elevate  the  tone  of  Chris- 
tian living,  so  infuse  it  with  "the  power"  of 
the  Lord's  own  "resurrection,"  as  that  they 
maybe  said,  in  a  supreme  sense,  to  live;  while 


Christianity  itself  will  have  gained  such 
supremacy,  as  that  its  forces  will  be  "reign- 
ing" forces.  In  this  new  age  of  the  church, 
too,  the  spirit  of  primitive  Christianity  will  be 
in  such  measure  revived  and  restored,  as  that 
it  shall  be  as  if  those  ancient  confessors  had 
returned  to  the  earth.  This  is  the  spiritual 
resurrection,  corresponding  Apocalyptically 
to  that  mentioned  in  John  5:  25;  but  this  as 
seen  in  the  realization  of  its  highest  earthly 
ideal.  Kesurrection  in  the  other,  more  literal, 
sense,  however,  does  not  take  place  "till  the 
thousand  years  are  finished."  [The  General 
Editor  is  glad  to  find  himself  at  this  point 
in  substantial  accord  with  Dr.  Smith;  his 
own  view  of  this  difficult  passage  may  be 
stated  briefly  as  follows:  (1)  That  the  faithful 
dead  (prominence  being  given  to  the  martyrs) 
are  represented  as  having  lived  and  reigned 
with  Christ  during  this  period,  because  the 
living  servants  of  Christ  were  like  those  faith- 
ful martj'rs,  possessing  their  spirit  of  fidelity 
to  the  Lord,  and  remind  every  observer  of 
them.  The  church  of  that  period  will  be  a 
martyr  church  in  its  fidelity  to  the  Lord. 
(2)  That  "the  rest  of  the  dead,"  i.  c,  the  vio- 
lent, persecuting  foes  of  Christ  and  his  jjcople, 
are  represented  as  not  having  lived  U7itil  (ixpi) 
the  thousand  years  were  accomplished,  because 
during  this  blessed  period  there  will  be  no  re- 
appearance of  bitter  and  prevailing  enemies 
to  Christ.  It  will  he  as  i/evil  men,  with  all 
their  terrible  forces,  were  in  their  graves,  and 
had  no  representatives  among  the  living;  or, 
if  anj',  but  few  and  weak  representatives,  un- 
able to  make  head  again.st  the  victorious  and 
controlling  children  of  God.  (3)  That  the 
living  of  the  martyred  dead  in  the  lives  of  the 
faithful  servants  of  Christ,  is  called,  in  the 
sj'mbolism  of  this  passage,  "the  first  resurrec- 
ti(m,"  while  the  living  of  "the  rest  of  the 
dead,"  in  the  violently'  wicked,  after  the 
thousand  years  are  finished,  is  called  by  im- 
plication the  second  resurrection.  For  when 
it  is  said  that  "the  rest  of  the  dead  lived  not 
until  the  thousand  years  should  be  finished," 
it  is  surely  implied  that  they  were  to  live 
again.  And  this  renewed  life  is  described 
in  ver.  7-9.  Both  resurrections  are  there- 
fore included  in  the  symbolism  of  the  pas-r 


276 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XX. 


6  Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that  hath  part  in  the  tirst 
resurrection:  on  such  "the  second  death  hath  no 
power,  but  they  shall  be  'priests  of  Ciod  and  of  Christ, 
•and  shall  reign  with  him  a  thousand  years. 


6  is  the  first  resurrection.  Blessed  and  ho'y  is  he  that 
hath  part  in  the  tirst  resurrection;  over  these  the 
second  death  hath  no  'power;  but  they  shall  be 
priests  of  God  and  of  Christ,  and  shall  reign  with 
him  -  a  thousand  years. 


ach.  2:  11;  21 :  8 b  Isa.  61 :  6;  1  Pel.  2:9;  oh.l:  6;  5:  10 c  ver.  4. 1  Or,  authority 2  Some  ancient  iiuthoiities  le^ii,  the. 


sage.— A.  H.]— This  is  the  first  resurrec- 
tion. "This"  which  is  described  in  ver.  4,  not 
the  living  again  of  "the  rest  of  the  dead." 

6.  Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that  hath 
part  in  the  first  resurrection:  on  such 
the  second  death  hath  no  power,  but 
they  shall  be  priests  of  God  and  of 
Christ,  and  shall  reign  with  him  a  thou- 
sand years.  Words  of  benediction,  imply- 
ing the  fullness  and  the  endlessness  of  bless- 
ing ensured  to  the  Lord's  redeemed  ones. 
The  admonitory  implication  in  the  last  part 
of  the  verse  should  be  noted.  Over  those 
who  have  part  in  the  first  resurrection  the 
gecond  death  hath  no  power,  authority  — 
{i^ovaiav)  —  it  caiiiiot  claim  them  nor  reach 
them.  Over  those  who  have  not  such  part  in 
the  first  resurrection  the  second  death  hath 
power,  as  is  set  forth  in  such  awful  imagery 
in  the  closing  verses  of  this  chapter. 

EXCURSUS  E.  -I.  THE  FIRST  RESUR- 
RECTION. 

Two  main  topics  are  brought  to  view  in 
that  portion  of  our  chapter  thus  far  studied 
— the  First  Resurrection  and  the  Millennium. 
In  offering  some  further  thoughts  upon  these, 
we  must  note  a  few  points,  as  preliminary, 
which  may  be  accepted  as  guiding  ones.  (1) 
First  of  all  is  the  close  connection  between 
this  chapter  and  that  which  precedes.  This 
twentieth  chapter  is  sometimes  dealt  with  as 
if  it  stood  wholly  by  itself;  or,  at  all  events, 
as  if  the  succession  of  visions  were  here 
broken,  while  we  go  back  to  "the  beginning 
of  the  gospel."  So  it  is  when,  as  is  done  by 
some  writers  (for  example,  in  the  Speaker's 
Com,mentary),  the  binding  of  the  dragon  is 
understood  as  the  effect  upon  Satan's  king- 
dom wrought  by  the  personal  coming,  and 
ministry,  and  above  all  the  death,  of  our 
Lord — as  when  he  himself  said,  "I  saw  Satan 
as  lightning  fall  from  heaven" — or  by  others 
as  the  final  overthrow  of  Paganism.  The 
nineteenth  and  twentieth  chapters,  it  should 
seem,  ought  not  to  be  thus  separated.  The 
latter  comes,  in  the  succession  of  the  visions, 
in   immediate   connection    with    tiie   former.  I 


This  is  made  the  more  apparent  as  we  con- 
sider (2)  how,  in  the  natural  order  of  events, 
the  binding  of  the  dragon  follows  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet.  To 
place  the  binding  of  Satan  at  the  opening  of 
the  Christian  Dispensation,  is  to  disregard  the 
fact  that  we  see  him  active  and  powerful  upon 
the  Apocalyptic  scene  during  the  whole  Chris- 
tian period,  and  the  instigator  of  every  form 
of  organized  wickedness.  It  is  from  the  pur- 
suit of  the  dragon  that  the  woman  flees  into 
the  wilderness;  it  is  the  dragon  that  "gives 
power  unto  the  beast";  it  is  the  dragon  that 
makes  war  upon  "the  remnant'"  who  "keep 
the  commandments  of  God,  and  have  the  tes- 
timony of  Jesus  Christ."  There  is  a  Satanic 
presence  and  activity,  either  express  or  im- 
plied, in  all  this  long  v."ar  upon  the  kingdom 
and  people  of  God.  The  beast  and  the  false 
prophet  are  simply  his  instruments.  He, 
himself,  back  of  all,  is  the  recognized  source 
of  ail  the  evil  that  is  done  by  them.  Now 
that  they  have  perished,  his  own  doom  natu- 
rally follows.  It  is  a  sequence  which  might 
almost  have  been  anticipated.  (3)  Care  must 
be  exercised  not  to  break  in  too  abruptly,  in 
our  interpretatio  :,  upon  the  pervading  sym- 
bolism of  the  book.  This  seems  to  be  t".e 
fault  of  that  extreme  Chiliasm  which  takes  as 
literal  so  much  of  the  millennial  imagery. 
Throu.hout  most  of  the  book,  thus  far,  we 
have  been  dealing  with  symbols.  From  the 
point  where  the  Apocalypse  properly  begins — 
the  opening  of  the  fourth  chapter — our  work 
has  been  to  find  under  imagery  the  meaning 
of  the  Spirit  in  a  succession  of  amazing  vis- 
ions. We  must  not,  here,  break  in  abruptly 
upon  this  method  of  interpretation,  and  begin 
now  to  take  what  is  pictorial  and  figurative 
as  if  it  were  literal  and  realistic.  (4)  It  is 
very  important  that  we  do  not  read  into  the 
l)assage  meanings  suggested  by  general  theo- 
ries as  to  the  time  of  the  Lord's  second 
advent,  or  the  nature  in  detail  of  the  millen- 
nium. What  the  passage  actually  contains, 
in  plain  language  or  in  fair  implication,  is 
what  we  should  find  i  i  it — that,  and  no  more. 
We  will   now  notice,   briefly,  two  theories 


Cir.  XX.] 


REVELATION. 


277 


of  interpretation  for  the  words  in  our  passage, 
as  seen  in  tlieir  connection,  "This  is  the  first 
resurrection."  One  is  that  which  views  this 
resurrection  as  a  literal  one,  including  either 
all  who  until  the  millennium  have  died  in 
the  Lord,  or  else  those  only  who  have  been 
conspicuous  for  their  fidelity  under  trial  in 
all  centuries  of  the  long  period  of  ordeal. 
Alford  treats  this  "first  resurrection  "  as  thus 
literal.  His  words  are:  "If,  in  a  passage 
where  two  resurrections  are  mentioned,  where 
certain  souls  lived  ("//wx""'  ^iw^"),  at  the  first, 
and  the  rest  of  the  dead  lived  (veKpol  eir)(Tav) 
only  at  the  end  of  a  specified  period  after  the 
first — if  in  such  a  passage  the  first  resurrection 
may  he  understood  to  mean  spiritual  rising 
with  Christ,  while  the  second  means  literal 
rising  from  the  grave — then  there  is  an  end 
to  significance  in  language,  and  Scripture  is 
wiped  out  as  a  definite  testimony  to  any- 
thing." Upon  this  we  remark  (1)  that  it  is 
at  least  an  over-statement  of  the  case,  as  it 
stands.  A  transition  from  the  figurative  to 
the  literal,  exactly  of  that  kind  which  Alford 
pronounces  so  utterly  inadmissible,  does  cer- 
tainly occur  at  that  place  in  the  fifth  of  John, 
of  which  we  have  already  taken  some  notice. 
The  transition  in  that  place  is  evident,  from 
that  spiritual  life  from  the  dead  which  is  the 
effect  of  regeneration  to  the  final  rising  and 
coming  forth  of  "  all  that  are  in  their  graves." 
A  conjunction  thus  of  the  figurative  with  the 
literal  in  the  same  association  of  thought 
which  is  possible  there  without  a  "wiping  out 
of  Scripture  as  a  definite  testimony  to  any- 
thing," is  surely  quite  as  possible  here.  (2) 
In  the  next  place,  it  is  right  to  frankly  admit 
the  force  of  the  antithesis  implied  in  the 
wqrds,  "the  rest  of  the  dead,"  in  ver.  5.  The 
interpretation  which  Alford  supposes  to  be 
thus  made  imperative  might  be  admitted 
without  carrying  with  it  any  part  of  Alford's 
related  views  as  to  the  pre-millennial  date  of 
our  Lord's  Second  Advent.  The  living  and 
reigning  with  Christ  predicated  of  tliose  who 
"have  part  in  th  i  first  resurrection"  does  not 
necessarily  imply  a  personal  presence  of  the 
Lord.  Such  a  thing,  too,  is  no  doubt  con- 
ceivable as  a  resurrection  of  the  righteous 
dead,  and  their  presence  on  the  earth  during 
the  millennial  period,  along  with  those  who 
live  the  ordinary  earthly  life.  Questions 
arise  in  that  connection,  however,  which  are 
hard  to  dispose  of.     Under  what  conditions 


will  this  association  of  the  risen  saints  with 
the  already  living  ones  be  maintained?  How 
will  it  be  w.th  those  who  at  the  opening  of  the 
millennium  are  thus  living  on  the  earth — will 
they  be  subject  to  death?  If  so,  will  they  at 
once  be  raised  again?  Will  they  pass  from 
mortality  to  immortality  without  tasting  of 
death?  How,  also,  will  those  words  of  Paul 
in  1  Thess.  4:  16,  17,  which  tell  how  the  Lord 
shall  descend,  the  dead  in  Christ  rise  first, 
and  we  which  are  alive  and  remain  be  caught 
up  to  meet  the  Lord  in  t  e  air,  be  made; 
to  comport  with  an  exegesis  of  our  present 
passage  which  seems  to  leave  no  room  for. 
attending  incidents  such  as  Paul  describes?. 
It  is  by  no  means  claimed  that  the  view  of 
this  difficult  section  of  our  chapter  which  we 
have  ventured  to  suggest,  is  itself  without 
serious  difficulty.  Yet  where  each  one  of 
the  various  interpretations  offered  is  open  to, 
objection  at  some  paint,  the  student  of  this 
passage  may  be  willing  to  consider,  in  con- 
nection with  others,  that  which  makes  the. 
first  and  second  resurrections  here  analogous, 
in  a  general  way  at  least,  to  the  spiritual  and 
literal  resurrections  placed  in  such  relations 
with  each  other  by  our  Lord  in  the  fifth  of. 
John. 

The  other  theory  of  interpretation  for  our 
passage  which  we  proposed  to  notice,  is  that 
of  Whitby.  We  take  so  much  of  this,  given 
in  his  own  words,  as  concerns  the  present 
point:  "I  believe,"  he  says,  "that  after  the 
fall  of  Antichrist  there  shall  be  such  a  glori- 
ous state  of  the  church,  by  the  conversion  of 
the  Jews  to  the  Christian  faith,  as  shall  be  to 
it  life  from  the  dead;  that  it  shall  then  flour- 
ish in  peace  and  plenty,  in  righteousness  and 
holiness,  and  in  a  pious  offspring;  that  then 
shall  begin  a  glorious  and  undi.sturbed  reign 
of  Christ  over  both  Jew  and  Gentile,  to  con  ■ 
tinue  a  thousand  years,  during  Satan's  bind- 
ing; and  that,  as  John  the  Baptist  was  Eiias 
because  he  came  in  thv.  spirit  and  power  of 
Elias,  so  shall  this  be  the  church  of  the  mai 
tyrs,  and  of  those  who  had  not  received  the 
mark  of  the  beast,  because  of  their  entire  free- 
dom from  all  doctrines  and  practices  of  the 
antichristian  church,  and  because  the  purity 
of  the  times  of  the  primitive  martyrs  shall 
return." 

Perhaps  the  view  we  have  suggested  will 
not  be  thought  to  differ  very  widely  from  this. 
We  should  say  that  the  passage  in  the  fifth. 


278 


REVELATION, 


[Ch.  XX. 


of  John  being  in  some  sense  the  basis  of  what 
we  have  in  our  present  chapter,  the  idea, 
virtually  the  same  in  both  places,  is  here 
conceived  Apocalyptically,  and  expressed  in 
Apocalyptic  language  and  imagery ;  besides 
being  applied  under  those  circumstances  of 
extraordinary  spiritual  manifestation  which 
usher  in  the  millennial  age. 

II.    THE  MILLENNIUM. 

Of  our  view  as  to  the  nature  of  the  millen- 
nium, we  have  already  given  some  intima- 
tions. The  millennium  we  look  upon  as  tfie 
era,  or  period  of  consum^nation.  The  open- 
ing period  of  Christianity  was  one  of  singular 
triumph  and  progress;  symbolized  in  our 
book  in  the  opening  of  the  first  seal.  The 
next  was  a  period  of  ordeal,  symbolized,  as  to 
its  beginning,  by  the  red  horse  and  his  rider, 
of  the  latter  of  whom  it  is  said  that  "it  was 
given  him  to  take  peace  from  the  earth"; 
and  as  to  the  various  characterizing  features 
of  it  in  what  appeared  at  the  opening  of  the 
third,  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  seals.  This 
same  period  is  again  exhibited  in  vision  under 
the  first  six  trumpets.  Following  the  period 
of  ordeal  comes  that  of  development.  It  is  a 
period  symbolized  in  its  main  feature  by  the 
"little  book"  and  the  angel  flying  in  the 
midst  of  heaven,  having  the  everlasting  gos- 
pel to  proclaim  to  the  whole  world.  There 
were  to  be,  even  in  this  period,  divine  visita- 
tions, revolutions,  commotions,  yet  not  as  in 
the  period  of  ordeal,  while  its  main  character- 
istic should  be  the  proclamation  of  the  divine 
message  to  men,  in  the  simplicity  of  its 
original  form,  as  gospel,  and  as  "prophecy" 
in  announcements  of  the  swiftly  coming  con- 
summation. During  this  period,  the  preach- 
ing of  the  word  is  the  power  by  which  it 
pleases  God  to  work  out  his  purposes;  his 
providences  so  accompanying  and  sustaining 
this,  as  that  the  cause  of  truth  in  all  great 
national  and  social  changes,  all  intellectual 
progress  and  achievement,  invention,  dis- 
covery, the  founding  of  new  nationalities, 
and  the  revolutionizing  of  old  ones — all  shall 
turn  out  "f(jr  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel." 
The  ptiriod  comes  to  a  close  in  the  complete 
and  fiiuil  overthrow  of  Antichrist.  And  now 
comes  that  of  the  consummation.  Two  things 
especially  characterize  this — the  binding  of 
the  dragon,  and  the  "thrones"  filled  by  the 
Great  King  and  his. assessors,  the  saints  of  all 


ages.  The  former  means  such  a  restraint  and 
coercion  applied  to  evil  in  all  its  forms  as  that 
it  shall  no  longer  be  the  mighty  power  it  has 
been.  We  have  no  doubt  that  the  personal 
Satan  is  put  under  the  kilid  of  restraint  repre- 
sented in  the  symbolism  of  ver.  1-3.  What  is 
especially  to  be  noted,  however,  is  the  effect  of 
this  in  making  the  dominion  of  the  earth  and 
the  world  pass  away  from  him  to  other  and 
worthier  hands.  That  supremacy  and  domin- 
ion which  ancient  prophecies  foreshadowed, 
and  toward  which,  through  ordeal  and  the 
various  stages  of  long  development,  with  the 
vicissitudes  characterizing  it,  the  course  of 
events  in  Christian  history  has  steadily  moved 
— this  "kingdom"  becomes  now  a  glorious 
actuality,  and  it  is  no  longer  the  evil,  but  the 
good,  that  prevails. 

It  would  seem  as  if  the  Lord's  people  ought 
to  expect  that  the  consummation,  the  mil- 
lennium, will  come  in  this  way.  After  cen- 
turies of  such  history  as  the  history  of  Chris- 
tianity has  been  up  to  this  hour,  and  is  likely 
to  continue  for  some  time  longer,  it  would 
seem  as  if  there  would  surely  come  vindi- 
cation for  that  which  so  long  had  guttered  re- 
proach. The  great  apostle  was  not  "ashamed" 
to  be  a  preacher  of  this  gospel,  knowing  that, 
whatever  a  deriding  world  may  say  of  it,  it  is 
"the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God." 
So  have  felt  thousands  and  thousands  of  faith- 
ful men  in  their  ministry  of  the  same  truth. 
Will  there  not  come,  one  day,  an  overwhelm- 
ing vindication  of  this  confidence?  Will  not 
the  gospel  be  one  day  proved  to  be  "the 
power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God"? 
Everywhere  in  the  Bible,  from  the  point 
where  it  is  promised  that  the  seed  of  the 
woman  shall  bruise  the  serpent's  head,  all 
the  types,  all  the  prophecies,  every  divine 
institution,  the  very  name — "Kingdom  of 
God,"  "Kingdom  of  heaven  "—given  to  this 
great  spiritual  force  against  which  so  many 
formidable  forces  stand  in  fierce  array  during 
so  many  ages — all  this  looks  forward,  con- 
stantly, in  either  exi)ress  or  implied  forms  of 
predictive  foreshadowing,  to  a  time  to  come, 
when  this  very  same  power,  as  we  now  see  it, 
and  in  its  j)resent  methods  of  operation,  shall 
completely  triumph. 

It  seems  a  fault  of  that  theory  of  the  mil- 
lennium which  views  it  as  a  personal  reign 
of  Christ  on  the  earth,  that  it  seems  to  de- 
scribe a  new  dispensation,  rather  than  the  con- 


Ch.  XX.] 


REVELATIOK 


279 


summation  and  triumph  of  the  present  one. 
Especially  is  this  the  case,  when  it  is  asserted, 
as  a  necessary  part  of  this  theory,  that  the 
last  ages  of  the  present  Dispensation  are  to  be 
peculiarly  gloomy  ones — Antichrist  and  all 
powers  of  evil  triumphing,  and  the  world 
almost  wholly  surrendered  to  the  devil  and 
his  angels.  Does  not  that  seem  like  a  failure 
of  Christianity,  so  far  as  this  world  is  con- 
cerned, in  its  whole  system  of  instituted 
agencies,  and  as  if  only  in  a  new  Dispen- 
sation, with  a  new  and  ditferent  array  of 
spiritual  forces,  the  designs  of  this  present  one 
could  after  all  be  accomplished?  Is  it  not 
more  as  we  should  expect  from  all  we  know 
of  God"s  customary  procedure,  from  the  lan- 
guage of  type,  and  prophecy,  and  psalm,  and 
from  the  very  fact  that  "the  church  of  the 
living  God,  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the 
truth,"  is  "«  kingdom,'"  not  a  mere  system 
of  human  instrumentalities,  destined  to  be 
worsted  at  last  in  their  final  struggle  with  the 
evil  of  the  world — is  it  not  what  we  ought  to 
look  for,  that  the  millennium  shall  come  as 
the  victorious  consummation  of  Christian 
progress  and  triumph — the  Kingdom  of  God 
with  all  its  aims  achieved,  and  with  not  one 
word  of  promise  or  prophecy  unfulfilled? 

If  this  view  be  accepted,  the  nature  of  the 
millennium  is  more  easy  of  anticipation.  It 
is  what  the  people  of  God  wish  to  see,  fully 
become  a  fact.  Said  Jesus,  of  the  prophets 
and  holy  men:  "Verily  I  say  unto  you,  that 
many  prophets  and  righteous  men  desired  to 
see  the  things  which  j'e  see,  and  saw  them 
not;  and  to  hear  the  things  which  ye  hear, 
and  heard  them  not,"  (Matt. i3:i7).  Will  not 
that  same  thing  be  said  in  the  millennium, 
and  in  a  like  sense?  What  the  people  of  God 
now  "desire  to  see,"  is  the  gospel  universally 
prevailing,  and  universally  victorious.  What 
that  would  be,  we  can  in  a  measure  under- 
stand. What  the  world  would  be,  with  the 
dragon,  the  beast,  and  the  false  prophet  cast 
out  of  it;  what  it  would  be  with  Christianity 
everywhere  prevailing  and  everywhere  the 
reigning  force,  we  can  in  some  degree  antici- 
pate. What  a  vast  array  of  crimes  and 
miseries  would  go  out  of  the  world  along 
with  those  evil  forces,  whose  symbols  we 
have  just  made  use  of  once  again!  The 
tempting  devil,  the  oppressing,  corrupting, 
tyrannous  world-force— the  wild  beast  of  our 
prophecy;  the  lying  and  deluding  false  pro- 


phet, the  second  wild  bea.st,  with  all  the 
power  of  the  beast  before  him — or  which 
preceded  him  in  appearance  on  the  Apoca- 
lyptic scene — with  additions  of  power  to  do 
mischief  peculiarly'  his  own — these  banished 
from  the  world,  and  what  a  revolution  would 
not  that  itself  be!  The  world  thus  becomefi 
the  undisputed  theatre  for  the  promotion  and 
achievement  of  the  great  design  of  Cliris- 
tianity.  Its  truth  gains  ready  access  and 
prevails.  Its  motives  and  aims  no  longer 
traduced,  no  longer  resisted,  enter  into  and 
sway  the  very  life  of  the  world.  The  family, 
society,  the  nation,  the  world-wide  commu- 
nity of  nations,  are  transformed  by  the  very 
indwelling  of  that  Spirit  which,  amidst  so 
many  resisting  influences,  acts  upon  them 
only  from  without.  The  industries  of  life  do 
not  cease,  neither  does  the  spirit  of  enterprise 
subside  into  sluggishness  and  inertia;  but 
human  exertion,  though  it  nvAy  take  like 
directions,  is  informed  with  another  spiritj 
and  la^'s  what  it  gains  on  quite  other  altars. 
The  fields  of  slaughter  in  past  ages,  so  bloom 
with  the  harvest  of  consecrated  and  success- 
ful and  happy  toil,  that  .scarcely  can  it  be 
believed  what  scenes  of  blood  and  horror 
were  once  enacted  there.  Great  cities  become 
centres  of  regenerative  power;  themselves 
transformed,  transforming  efficacy  goes  forth 
from  them,  along  those  same  channels  of  nec- 
essary influence  which  now  reek  with  what  is 
most  filthy  and  most  poisonous.  Ttiil  sings 
at  its  happy  daily  tasks;  worship  rejoices  in 
each  return  of  its  accustomed  hour;  human 
enjoyment  is  purified  by  the  spirit  that  controls 
it;  and  if  there  be  burdens,  they  are  turned 
to  pleasures  by  the  motive  that  pron>pts  the 
bearing  of  them.  In  a  word,  the  world  and 
humanity'  become  what  they  were  invited  to 
be  during  ages  of  unvalued  profilers  of  the 
divine  gift.  It  is  the  marriage  supper  of  the 
Lamb,  and  "blessed,"  indeed,  are  they  who 
"enter  in." 

This  consummation,  as  we  term  it,  is  to 
have  its  own  period.  Whetlier  this  shall  be 
for  a  literal  and  actual  "thousand  j'ears,"  it 
may  not  be  necessary  for  us  now  to  deter- 
mine. It  will,  at  all  events,  have  its  own 
limits;  its  own  beginning  and  its  own  ending. 
There  are  those  who  doubt  if  the  aspect  of 
the  world  at  the  present  time,  warrants  the 
belief  that  we  are  approaching  a  consumma- 
tion  of  this  nature.      It  is  because  they  see 


280 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XX. 


7  And  when  the  thousand  years  are  expired,  "Satan 
shall  be  loosed  out  of  his  i)rison, 

8  And  shall  go  out  'to  dtceive  the  nations  which  are 
in  the  lour  quarters  of  the  earth,  «Gog  and  Magog,  ''to 
gather  theiu  together  to  battle:  the  number  of  whom  is 
as  the  sand  of  the  sea. 


7  And  when  the  thousand  years  are  finished,  Satan 

8  shall  be  loosed  out  of  his  prison,  and  shall  come  forth 
to  deceive  the  nations  that  are  in  the  four  corners 
of  the  earth,  (jog  and  Magog,  to  gather  them  together 
to  the  war:  the  number  of  whom  is  as  the  sand  of 


a  ver.  2 4  ver.  3.  19 c  Ezek.  38:  2;  39  :  1 d  ch.  16  :  U. 


that  aspect  at  only  one  angle  of  vision.  That 
there  is  wickedness  abundant  in  the  world  to- 
day, is  but  too  sadly  true — opposition  to  every 
form  of  truth  and  every  endeavor  to  promote 
righteousness  and  a  true  human  welfare.  Yet 
the  world  is  not,  even  in  this,  what  it  was. 
Humanity  may  seem  worse  than  ever,  be- 
cause we  know  more  of  it;  crime  more  preva- 
lent, because  in  every  instance  it  gets  dragged 
into  the  light;  blasphemous  error  more  for- 
midable, because  it  is  allowed  to  speak  all 
that  is  in  its  heart.  Christianity  may  seem 
less  a  united  force,  because  it  is  the  spirit  of 
the  age  to  "try  all  things."  The  church  may 
seem  more  worldly,  because  the  time  is  nearer 
when  all  things  shall  be  hers.  But,  upon  the 
other  hand,  what  a  tremendous  force  is  the 
Christianity  of  to-day,  when  all  is  said!  Is 
it  conceivable  that  this  auspicious  power, 
which  is  so  rapidly  taking  possession  of  the 
wide  earth,  can  dwindle  into  that  imbecility 
which  some  millennarians  appear  to  predict 
for  it?  It  has  been  said  that  in  twenty-five 
years  more,  if  the  present  rate  of  progress 
continues,  India  will  become  as  thoroughly 
Christian  as  Great  Britain  is  to-day  ;  there  will 
be  thirty  millions  of  Christians  in  China, 
and  Japan  will  be  as  fully  Christianized  as 
America  is  now.  The  old  heathen  systems, 
they  tell  us,  are  honey-combed,  through  and 
through,  bj'  Christian  influence.  It  looks  as 
if  a  day  may  come  soon,  when  these  systems, 
struck  by  vigorous  blows,  will  fall  in  tre- 
mendous collapse.  Meantime,  every  "weapon 
formed  against"  Christianitj%  breaks  in  the 
hand  that  holds  it.  Already,  the  Lord's 
"right  hand  hath  gotten  him  the  victory." 
Surely,  not  in  such  a  day  as  this  should  faith 
fail,  or  those  theories  of  the  future  gain  cur- 
rency which  tend  to  paralyze,  rather  than  to 
nerve  and  insj)ire,  the  arm  of  Christian  en- 
deavor. 

7-10.  TiiK  Loosing  of  Satan,  and  the 
Final  Overthrow. 

7.  And  when  the  thonsand  years  arc 
expired  [are Jiniihad],  Satan  shall  be 
loosed   out   of  his   prison.     A  change   in 


the  phraseology  employed,  apparently  of 
some  significance,  should  be  remarked  here. 
Heretofore  we  have  noticed  the  constantly 
occurring  "I  saw,"  showing  that  what  then 
follows  is  to  be  treated  as  vision.  What  is 
now  to  be  described  is  announced  differently. 
It  has  the  customary  form  of  prophecy.  In 
ver.  7,  8,  the  verb  is  in  what  is  termed  "the 
prophetic  future."  In  ver.  9,  10,  the  historic 
form  is  resumed,  a  past  tense  being  again 
employed.  The  language  is  still  symbolical 
and  figurative,  yet  the  prophet  does  not  seem 
to  be  now  describing  a  vision,  but  foretelling 
the  future  in  the  manner  customary  in  t)ther 
prophetic  books.  The  "loosing"  of  Satan 
figuratively  indicates  a  temporary  return  of 
the  old  times  of  evil  and  suffering.  How 
these  are  brought  on,  there  is  nothing  in  the 
passage  to  show,  or  even  suggest.  All  we 
can  say  is  that  the  millennium,  glorious  and 
happy  as  is  the  period  of  it,  is  not  the  Jinai 
consummation  and  triumph  of  the  kingdom. 
The  loosing  of  Satan  and  the  effects  that 
follow,  it  may  be  further  said,  are  prelimi- 
naries to  the  general  judgment.  This  great 
and  awful  event,  it  would  seem,  is  to  come 
upon  the  world  at  a  time  when  that  evil 
of  the  world  which  in  it  is  to  suffer  a  blow 
so  annihilating  shall  be  on  exhibition  in  a 
climax  of  iniquity  apd  outrage.  It  will  be 
according  to  the  usual  course  of  things  if 
"Gog  and  Magog,"  wickedness  in  the  form 
of  organized  assault,  shall  be  possessed  by 
a  fury  all  the  greater  because  of  the  long 
restraint  under  which  they  have  been  held. 
The  brief  but  vivid  description  here,  and  the 
law  of  things  under  such  conditions,  justify 
the  belief,  moreover,  that  this  final  outburst 
of  evil  will  be  formidable  beyond  all  pre- 
vious example.  Our  Lord  himself  once  said 
(Luke  18: 8):  "When  the  Son  of  man  cometh, 
shall  he  find  faith  on  the  earth?" 

8.  And  shall  po  out  [shall  come  forth]  to 
deceive  the  nations  which  are  in  the 
four  corners  of  the  earth,  Gog  and  Ma- 
gog. The  earliest  use  of  the  name  Magog  is 
at  Gen.  10  :  2,  where  he  is  mentioned  as  one 


Ch.  XX.] 


REVELATION. 


281 


of  the  sons  of  Japheth.  Of  Gog  we  first  read 
ill  Ezek.  38:  2:  "Son  of  man,  set  thy  face 
against  Gog,  the  land  of  Magog,  the  chief 
prince  of  Meshecli  and  Tubal,  and  prophesy 
against  him."  Meshech  and  Tubal  are  men- 
tioned along  with  Magog  in  Gen.  10 :  2.  Jo- 
sephus  states  that  the  Scj'thians  were  the 
descendants  of  Magog,  and  this,  the  Speakers 
Commentary  says,  "is  generally  accepted  as 
true."  Canon  Rawlinson  says:  "The  most 
striking  trace  of  the  former  condition  of 
things  which  remained  in  the  days  of  Herod- 
otus, was  the  existence,  everywhere  in  Wes- 
tern Asia,  of  a  large  Scythic  or  Turanian 
element  in  the  population";  a  "condition  of 
things,"  he  adds,  "which  the  recently  dis- 
covered cuneiform  records  place  altogether 
beyond  a  doubt."  Further  on,  after  noticing 
the  regions  where  "these  Scythic  writings" 
are  found,  he  remarks:  "They  can  only  be 
accounted  for  by  the  supposition  that  before 
the  great  immigration  of  the  Aryan  races 
from  the  East,  Scythic  or  Tartar  tribes  oc- 
cupied the  countries  seized  by  them."  He 
speaks  of  the  names  Mui^kai  and  Tuplai  as 
"constantly  associated  in  the  Assyrian  in- 
scriptions, just  as  Meshech  and  Tubal  are  in 
Scripture."  These  Muschai,  or  Moschoi,  are 
regarded  as  those  Muscovite  ancestors  of  the 
modern  Russians  by  whom  that  great  empire 
was  founded  and  the  ancient  city  of  Moscow 
built.  [See  Rawlinson's  Herodotus,  Vol.  1, 
Essay  xi\  The  Scythians  were  a  peculiarly 
wild  and  barbaric  people,  representative  of 
that  rude,  ferocious  spirit  which  is  so  for- 
midable to  all  civilized  nations,  and  from 
which  the  civilization  of  the  ancient  world 
suffered  so  much.  It  is  agreed  among  com- 
mentators that,  although  the  fact  is  not  speci- 
fically mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament,  there 
is  evidence  of  a  Scythic  invasion  of  Judea,  in 
the  time  of  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel,  and  that  it 
is  to  the  dreaded  Scythian  nations  of  the  north 
that  the  latter  prophet  alludes  in  the  passage 
of  his  prophecy  above  quoted.  The  .striking 
language  used  in  the  chapter  (ch.  38)  where 
this  prophecy  occurs,  plainly  implies  that  the 
devastation  wrought  in  this  invasion  was  a 
signal  one,  and  left  in  the  minds  of  those  who 
suflTered  from  it  a  terrifying  sense  of  the  for- 
midableness  of  this  one  of  their  numerous 
enemies.  Some  part  of  what  is  said,  besides, 
seems  to  glance  forward  to  what  is  under 
view  in  our   present    chapter.      Concerning 


"Gog,  the  land  of  Magog,"  the  prophet  is 
commissioned  to  make  known  this  word  of 
the  Lord  :  "  It  shall  come  to  pass  at  the  same 
time  when  Gog  shall  come  against  the  land 
of  Israel,  saith  the  Lord  God,  that  my  fury 
shall  come  up  in  my  face  .  .  .  And  I  will 
call  for  a  sword  against  him  throughout  all 
my  mountains,  saith  the  Lord  God  .  .  .  And 
I  will  plead  against  him  with  pestilence  and 
with  blocJd;  and  I  will  rain  upon  him,  and 
upon  his  bands,  and  upon  the  many  people 
with  him,  an  overflowing  rain,  and  great 
hail-stones,  fire,  and  brimstone.^'  AVhether 
this  intense  imagery  looks  forward  to  that 
grand  consummating  overthrow  of  the  forces 
of  evil  which  our  present  passage  describes, 
or  not,  it  seems  clear  that  the  passage  in 
Ezekiel  is  that  upon  which  the  symbolism  of 
John  in  the  verses  before  us  is  made  to  rest. 
As  representative  of  that  mighty  combination 
of  wickedness  and  destructiveness  to  be  seen 
in  the  last  days,  he  uses  these  names,  Gog  and 
Magog,  themselves  representative  to  God's 
ancient  people  of  that  rude  ferocity,  that  bru- 
tal destructiveness,  which  came  down  upon 
them  with  such  ten-or  and  slaughter  in  the 
Scythians  of  the  far,  wild  north.  In  the 
last  days,  the  gathered  forces  of  evil,  sum- 
moned by  Satan  to  a  final  war  upon  the  king- 
dom and  people  of  God,  will  come  from  all 
directions,  "the  four  corners  of  the  earth," 
and  so  make  assault.  In  the  symbolism  of 
our  book,  these  are  as  Gog  and  Magog  — 
names  once  so  terrible  in  the  land  of  Israel. 
— And  gather  them  together  to  battle. 
"70  the  ivar"  {«i«  r'ov  -noKeixov),  is  the  correct 
rendering — a  period  of  struggle,  more  or  less 
extended. — The  number  of  whom  is  as 
the  sand  of  the  sea.  A  resisting  fcrce 
may  be  subdued,  and  still  survive.  The  pre- 
dominance of  good  in  the  millennium  does 
not  make  it  impossible  that  evil  shall  even 
then  remain  in  the  world,  though  under 
checks  and  restraints  that  so  cripple  its  power 
as  to  greatly  limit  its  mischief.  It  is  con- 
ceivable, also,  that,  toward  the  close  of  such 
a  period  as  we  suppose  the  millennium  to  be, 
what  had  been  thus  put  down  gradually  re- 
covers strength,  and  in  due  time  becomes  for- 
midable again.  Such  as  this  is  often  seen. 
In  fulfillment  of  divine  purpose  .scope  is  again 
allowtid  to  Satanic  agencies.  With  the  world 
as  populous  as  we  may  well  suppose  at  the 
close  of  the  millennial  age,  it  is  quite  con- 


282 


EEVELATION. 


[Ch.  XX. 


9  "And  they  went  upon  the  breadth  of  the  earth,  and 
compassed  the  eaiup  of  the  saints  about,  and  the  be- 
loved city :  and  tire  came  down  from  God  out  of  heaven, 
and  devoured  them. 

10  *And  the  devil  that  deceived  them  was  east  into 
the  lake  of  tire  and  brimstone,  ^  where  the  be;^sit  and 
the  false  prophet  iirr,  and  -^ shall  be  tormented  day  and 
night  for  ever  and  ever. 


9  the  sea.  And  they  went  up  over  the  breadth  of  the 
earth,  and  compassed  the  camp  of  the  saints  about, 
and  the  beloved  city:  and  tire  came  down'  out  of 
10  heaven,  and  devoured  them.  And  the  devil  that 
deceived  them  was  cast  into  the  lake  of  tiro  and 
brimstone,  where  are  also  the  beast  and  the  false  pro- 
phet ;  and  they  shall  be  tormented  day  and  night 
-  for  ever  and  ever. 


olsa.  8:8;  Ezek.  38:9,  16.... 6  ver. 


.c  ch.  19:  20....IJ  ch.  14:  10.  11. 1  Some  ancient  auiboriiies  insert, /rom  God....'i  Gr 

unto  the  ages  of  the  ages. 


ceivable  that  in  many  quarters  of  it  at  once 
this  uprising  should  occur.  Wickedness  and 
wicked  men  once  more  become  bold  and  de- 
fiant.    The  old  war  is  renewed. 

9.  And  they  went  up  on  [over]  the 
breadth  of  the  earth,  and  compassed  the 
camp  of  the  saints  about,  and  the  be- 
loved city.  The  tense  of  the  verb  here  used 
is  that  which  denotes  the  historical  past.  In 
the  previous  verse,  the  events  indicated  are 
described  as  future;  here  they  are  pictured  as 
if  seen  by  one  to  whom  they  were  already 
past.  By  "the  camp  of  the  saints"  and  "the 
beloved  city"  we  are  to  understand  the 
"blessed  and  holy"  people  of  the  millen- 
nium, them.selves,  here  presented  to  us  under 
these  figurative  phrases.  The  "city"  is  not 
the  "New  Jerusalem";  that  is  yet  to  be  re- 
vealed, as  in  the  next  chapter.  The  uprising 
of  evil  at  the  end  of  the  millennial  age  has 
been  spoken  of  as  a  "war."  Consistently 
with  this,  the  people  of  God  are  represented 
as  if  standing  on  the  defensive.  They  are  as 
if  holding  a  city — a  "beloved"  one,  like  the 
Jerusalem  of  old — with  its  engirdling  "camp." 
Upon  these,  in  the  imager^^  of  the  passage, 
the  assaulting  forces,  numberless,  and  for- 
midable exceedingly,  come;  as  when  in  the 
ancient  days,  Jerusalem  was  beleaguered  by 
"armies  of  the  aliens." — And  fire  came 
down  from  C.od  out  of  heaven,  and  de- 
voured them.  "From  God"  should  be 
omitted.  The  imagery  rests  upon  those  inci- 
dents in  thj3  history  of  ancient  Israel,  in 
wliicii,  at  a  moment  of  extremity  and  almost 
of  despair  on  the  part  of  the  Lord's  people, 
divine  judgments  smote  the  enemy  with  an- 
nihilating overthrow.  We  have  quoted  from 
Ezekiel  a  passage  in  which  this  was  threat- 
ened againt  Gog.  In  a  similar  way,  the  army 
of  Sennacherib  was  annihilated.  Fire  from 
heaven  destroyed  Sodom  and  Gomorrah;  and 
in  a  like  visitation  the  divine  judgment  upon 
sinners  was,  in  still  other  instances,  executed. 

(See  2  Kings  1:9-14;    Num.  16:  16,17,18;    Lev.  10:  1,?),       Bv 


judgments  as  manifestly  divine,  as  awful 
and  as  consuming,  shall  this  final  ujirising  of 
evil  be  quelled. 

10.  And  the  devil  that  deceived  them 
was  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  and  brim- 
stone, where  the  beast  and  the  false 
prophet  are,  and  shall  be  tormented  day 
and  night  for  ever  and  ever.  "And  they 
shall  be  tormented";  the  beast  and  the  false 
prophet  are  included.  What  shall  we  under- 
stand by  the  "lake  of  fire  and  brimstone,"  as 
here  and  elsewhere  mentioned?  We  cannot 
take  the  idea  in  any  literal  or  physical  sense, 
for  various  reasons  :  (1)  Satan,  who  is  cast  into 
the  lake  of  fire,  as  a  spiritual  being  cannot  be 
supposed  susceptible  to  effect,  "tormenting" 
or  otherwise,  from  physical  causes  or  agencies. 
(2)  The  beast  and  the  false  prophet  are  not 
even  personalities,  much  less  beings  subject  to 
any  kind  of  physical  effect.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  "death  and  hell,"  mentioned  in 
ver.  14,  as  "cast  into  the  lake  of  fire";  (3)  the 
lake  of  fire  belongs,  therefore,  in  general,  to 
the  symbolism  of  the  book,  and  must  be 
treated  accordingly;  (4)  the  lake  of  fire  "is 
the  second  death"  (ch. 20:  u),  and  no  proper 
view  of  the  phrase  "second  death"  can  rep- 
resent it  as  implying  physical  effects  of  any 
kind  whatever.  Hengstonberg  saj's:  "As 
the  fire  and  brimstone  [in  the  lake  of  fire] 
point  to  the  overthrow  of  Sodom  and  Gomor- 
rah, so  it  is  very  natural  to  suppose  that  allu- 
sion is  made  to  the  Dead  Sen  as  the  image  of 
hell."  "The  imagery,"  .says  Stuart,  "is  the 
most  terrific  which  the  whole  compass  of  na- 
ture can  afford — a  lake  of  fire  burning  with 
brimstone.  The  intensity  of  the  flame,  the 
suffocating  nature  of  the  fumes,  and  also  the 
revolting  odor  which  issues  from  the  sulphur, 
all  conspire  to  render  this  an  image  of  unpar- 
alleled horror."  Where  the  beast  and  the 
false  prophet,  death  and  hell,  are  represented 
as  cast  into  such  a  lake  of  fire,  the  whole  is 
figurative;  these  impersonalities  being  treated 
as  personal,  and  their  final  destruction  repre- 


Ch.  XX.] 


REVELATION. 


288 


11  And  I  saw  a  great  white  throne,  and  hiui  that  sat 
on  it,  from  whose  lace  "the  earth  and  the  heaven  fled 
away ;  'and  there  was  found  no  place  for  theui. 

12  And  1  saw  the  dead,  "^sniall  and  great,  stand  before 
God:  rf and  the  books  were  opened :  and  another  "book 
was  opened,  which  is  the  buuk  of  life:  and  the  dead 
were  judged  out  of  those  things  which  were  written  in 
the  books, /according  to  their  works. 


11  And  I  saw  a  great  white  throne,  and  liini  that  sat 
upon  it,  from  whose  face  the  earib  and  th(;  lioaveu 
fled  away;  and  there  was  found  no  place  lor  tlieni. 

12  And  I  saw  the  dead,  the  great  and  the  small,  stand- 
ing before  the  throne ;  and  books  were  ojiened :  and 
another  book  was  opened,  which  is  llteliiml:  of  life: 
and  the  dead  were  judged  out  of  the  things  which 
were  written  in  the  books,  according  to  their  works. 


1  a  Pet,.  3:  7,  10,  11;  cli.  21 :  1....6  Dan.  2:  35.... cell.  19:  5.... d  Diiii.  7:  10...  .e  P.-<.  69:  28;  Dun.  12  :  1  ;  Phil.  4:3;  ch.  3:5;  13: 
»;  21:  27 /Jer.  17:  10;  32:  19;  Mult.  16:  27;  Kom.  2:6;  ch.  2  :  23;  22:  12;  ver.  13. 


sented  as  if  they  were  capable  of  suffering 
like  actual  beings,  and  as  doomed  to  such 
suftering  forever.  As  applied  to  Satan,  the 
conception  relates  to  an  actual  being,  and  is  a 
representation  of  his  final  and  actual  doom ; 
this,  however,  being  presented  to  us,  like  so 
much  el.se  in  this  book,  under  figurative  form. 
His  condition,  when  at  last  the  deserved  doom 
strikes  him,  will  be  that  of  helpless,  hopeless, 
weltering  torment,  such  as  that  of  one  tossed 
forever  on  the  billows  of  a  lake  of  fire.  It  is 
torment,  however,  of  a  nature  suited  to  his 
own  nature,  being  such  as  a  spirit  is  capable 
of  suftering.  More  than  this  we  cannot  hope 
to  know  upon  a  subject  invested  in  such 
awful  mystery. 

11-15.  The  Final  Judgment. 

11.  And  I  saw  a  great  white  throne, 
and  him  that  sat  on  it,  from  whose  face 
the  earth  and  the  heaven  fled  away;  and 
there  was  found  no  place  for  them.  The 
fleeing  away  of  the  earth  and  the  heaven 
must  not  be  taken  literally.  What  imme- 
diately follows  in  the  connected  passage 
shows  this.  The  actual  "earth"  must  re- 
main, since  it  is  described  as  giving  up  its 
dead,  alike  its  sea  and  its  land.  The  language 
is  intensely  poetical,  and  wonderfully  sublime 
in  its  suggestiveness.  In  the  vision,  so  awful 
is  that  divine  Presence  which  appears  on  the 
throne,  that  even  inanimate  nature  cannot 
bear  the  sight.  It  seems  as  if  quailing  at 
that  dread  Presence ;  as  if  fleeing  from  the 
glance  of  that  Eye  which  pierces  all  veils 
and  fathoms  all  depths.  The  whole  is  in- 
tended to  make  more  vivid  the  tremendous 
picture,  and  prepare  us  for  what  is  to  follow. 
Parallel  passages  seem  to  require  that  we 
shall  know  in  this  Enthroned  One,  "the  Son 
of  man"  (asinjiau.  25:.3i.  32) :  "When  the  Son 
of  man  shall  come  in  his  glory,  and  all  the 
holy  angels  with  him,  then  shall  he  sit  upon 
the  throne  of  his  glory;  and  before  him  shall 
be  gathered  all  nations."  It  is  the  culmina- 
tion of  that  "judgment"  which   the  Father 


"hath  committed"  unto  "him;  which 
during  long  ages  had  been  exercised  as  a 
moral  administration  and  rule,  and  now 
brings  all  its  aims  and  measures  to  a  climax, 
in  final,  supreme,  and  irreversible  judgment 
of  "the  quick  and  the  dead." 

13.  And  1  saw  the  dead,  small  and 
great  [the  great  and  the  small],  stand  be- 
fore God.  In  the  person  of  him  wiio  fills 
the  throne,  all  the  awful  glories  of  the  God- 
head unite.  It  is  said  of  even  the  Word  made 
flesh  in  his  earthly  manifestation,  tliat  he 
"was  God";  how  truly  may  this  be  said  of 
him  now!  What  subterfuge  will  they  now 
find  who  had  refused  to  see  that  divinit}' 
through  the  veil  of  his  humiliation?  What 
consternation  must  fill  the  hearts  of  "them 
also  that  pierced  him"!  In  this  presence 
and  at  this  tribunal,  all  earthly  distinctions 
vanish.  "The  great  and  the  small"  are 
upon  one  level.  All  alike  must  be  judged 
out  of  the  things  written  in  the  books. — And 
the  books  were  opened  ;  and  another 
book  was  opened,  which  is  the  book  of 
life.  Of  him  that  overcometh,  it  is  promised 
that  his  name  shall  not  be  blotted  out  of  the 
book  of  life.  It  is  the  roll  of  the  redeemed. 
The  names  of  the  Lord's  true  peojiie  are  all 
there. — And  the  dead  were  judged  out  of 
those  things  Avhich  were  written  in  the 
books,  according  to  their  works.  How 
much  of  this  whole  description,  now,  we 
ought  in  our  interpretation  to  treat  as  fore- 
shadowing actual  occurrences,  is  a  very  dif- 
ficult question.  Two  points,  at  least,  may  be 
treated  as  certain  :  (1)  That  in  this  final  judg- 
ment there  is  to  be  an  actual  personal  coming 
of  the  Lord,  in  the  overwhelming  glory  of  a 
divine  manifestation.  It  is  here  that,  in  our 
own  sj^stem  of  interpretation,  we  find  the 
fulfillment  of  those  predictions,  scattered 
through  the  New  Testament  especially, 
which  speak  of  that  second  coming.  In  this 
connection  it  is  that  we  trace  the  realization 
of  what  Paul,  in  writing  to  the  Thessalonians, 


284 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XX. 


13  And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  which  were  in  it; 
"and  death  and  lu-Il  delivered  up  the  dead  which  were 
in  them:  '•and  they  were  judged  every  man  according 
to  their  worlv.s. 

14  And  "^ death  and  hell  were  cast  into  the  lake  of 
fire.    ''This  is  the  second  death. 


13  And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  that  were  in  it; 
and  death  and  Hades  gave  up  the  dead  that 
were  in  them;    and  they  were  judged   every  man 

14  according  to  their  works.  And  death  and  Hades 
were  cast  into  the  lake  of  tire.    This  is  the  second 


a  ch.  6:8 b  ver.  12 c  I  Cor.  15:  26,  54,  55 d  ver.  6;  ch.  21:  8. 


(iThess.  4:1318),  SO  vividly  (Jepicts  of  the  Lord's 
descent  from  heaven  "with  the  voice  of  the 
archangel  and  the  trump  of  God,"  the  res- 
urrection of  the  blessed  dead  and  the  glori- 
fying "change"  of  living  saints,  while  all  in 
one  beatific  company  are  "caught  up  to 
meet  the  Lord  in  the  air";  thenceforth  to 
be  "ever  with  the  Lord."  For  this  coming 
of  the  Son  of  man  has  two  great  purposes — 
to  judge  the  wicked  and  the  lost,  and  to  re- 
ceive unto  himself  the  people  who  are  his 
"purchased  possession."  We  may  refer  also 
to  1  Cor.  15:  50,  et  seq.,  as  being  to  a  like 
effect.  (2)  In  some  real  and  actual  sense 
there  is  to  be  a  "judgment."  The  "books" 
we  look  upon  as  belonging  to  the  scenery  of 
the  vision.  They  sj'mbolize  that  perfect  and 
exact  knowledge  of  each  individual  character 
and  life  upon  which  the  final  judgment  shall 
be  based.  It  is  as  if  there  were  a  record,  in- 
disputable, exact,  confounding  to  all  the 
condemned,  which  shall  absolutely  justify 
the  final  sentence,  and  vindicate  forever  the 
unimpeachable  rectitude  of  the  divine  ad- 
ministration. The  book  of  life  .symbolizes 
the  fact  that  of  those  which  had  been  "given" 
to  him,  the  Redeemer  has  "lost  none."  It 
is  as  if  a  roll  had  been  kept  during  all  the 
centuries  of  earth's  history,  and  the  name 
there  entered  of  every  one  saved  by  faith,  or 
embraced  by  the  terms  of  the  salvation  pro- 
vided in  Chri.st.  No  name  which  a  rightly- 
founded  Christian  hope  had  expected  to  find 
on  that  page  shall  fail  to  be  there  found. 
Under  this  form  of  sj'mbol,  it  is  shown  us 
how,  in  that  great  day,  this  is  a  "hope  that 
maketh  not  asliamed."  Yet  within  all  that 
is  thus  to  be  viewed  as  symbol  is  the  certain 
and  literal  fact,  that  in  this  way  the  affairs 
of  the  world  shall  be  finally  wound  up — in 
an  assignment  to  each  human  being  of  that 
ultimate^  unchangeable  condition,  of  joy  or 
of  woe,  which  his  own  life  has  prepared  for 
hiin. 

13.  And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  which 
were  in  it;  and  death  and  hell  [Ilndrs] 
gave  up  the  dead  which  were  in  them  : 


and  they  were  judged  every  man  accord- 
ing to  their  works.  By  "Hades  "  is  meant, 
of  course,  the  world  of  spirits.  "Death" 
surrenders  the  body,  and  "Hades"  the  spirit. 
Even  "the  sea"  gives  up  the  dead  that  were 
in  it.  It  is  now  that  "the  rest  of  the  dead," 
the  dead  in  the  strict  and  literal  sense,  "live 
again."  All  are  thus  raised,  the  righteous 
and  the  wicked — the  former  "to  life,"  the 
latter  "to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt," 
^Dan.  12:7).  The  Scripturcs  know  of  no  other 
resurrection  of  the  body  but  this. 

14.  And  death  and  hell  [Hades]  were 
cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.  We  can  only 
understand  hy  this  that  there  will  never  again 
be  such  a  thing  in  the  universe  of  God  as 
that  "death"  which  was  such  a  dread  thing 
in  all  human  history — such  a  separation  of 
body  and  spirit,  the  one  returning  to  dust, 
the  other  a  di.sembodied  inhabitant  of  a  world 
of  souls.  Events  of  this  nature  shall  be 
known  no  more.  They  belonged  to  the 
history  of  man  on  the  earth.  Now  that  this 
history  is  ended,  they  also  are  ended.  Death 
and  Hades,  as  dread  powers,  are  here  personi- 
fied. And  this  cessation  of  them  is  pictured 
as  the  destruction  of  actual  beings.  [Death, 
as  representative  of  the  dissolution  of  body 
and  soul,  and  Hades,  as  representing  the 
state  of  the  wicked  in  the  unseen  world  be- 
fore the  last  judgment,  will  be  swallowed  up 
forever  in  the  second  death,  the  lake  of  fire. 
In  the  resurrection  of  the  la.st  day,  that  of 
the  wicked  cannot  be  a  resurrection  to  life, 
but  only  to  death,  in  the  sense  of  being 
finally  condemned  and  of  passing  into  their 
final  stiite  of  separation  from  God. — A.  H.] — 
This  is  the  second  death.  Mention  of 
the  "second  death"  has  already  been  made 
in  ver.  6  of  this  chapter.  Over  the  "blessed 
and  holy,"  the  regenerated  and  saved,  the 
second  death  "hath  no  power."  It  is  not 
said  to  them  as  to  the  rest  of  mankind  :  "De- 
part into  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the 
devil  and  his  angels."  AVe  can  understand 
by  this  only  the  presentation  in  figurative 
form  of  that  final  condition  which  awaits  the 


Ch.  XXI.] 


REVELATION. 


285 


15  And  whosoever  was  not  found  written  in  the  book  I  15  death,  exien  the  lake  of  fire.    And  if  any  was  not 
of  life  "was  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.  found  written  in  the  book  of  life,  he  was  cast  into 

I       the  lake  of  tire. 

CHAPTEK    XXI. 

\  ND  'I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth:  <^for  the  I    1      And  I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth  :  for  the 
first  heaven  and  the  tirst  earth  were  passed  away ;         first  heaven  and  the  first  earth  are  passed  away ;  and 


and  there  was  no  more  sea. 


ich.  19:  20 h  Isa.  65:  17;  66:  Tt:  2  Pet.  3:  13 c  ch.  20:  11. 


unsaved.  For  them,  and  for  "the  devil  and 
his  angels,"  it  is  a  condition  as  real  as  it  is 
dreadful.  The  impersonalities  named,  death 
and  hades,  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet, 
are  described  as  sharing  it  under  a  pictorial 
mode  of  representation,  the  meaning  of  which 
is  that  they,  in  their  power  to  deceive  and  to 
destroy,  to  sadden  and  to  wound,  are  to  be 
"felt  and  feared  no  more." 

15.  And  whosoever  was  not  found 
written  in  the  book  of  life  was  cast 
into  the  lake  of  fire.  With  these  terrible 
words  the  record  of  man's  history  on  earth 
closes.  As  these  are  spoken  the  curtain 
descends.  "When  next  it  rises,  we  shall  see 
"a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth." 

GENERAL    COMMENTS. 

The  fact  should  be  emphasized  that  we 
have  now  reached  not  only  the  end  of  the 
Dispensation  under  which  all  the  great  events 
so  fVir  represented  on  the  Apocalyptic  scene 
have  transpired,  but  the  end  also  of  the  period 
of  human  probation.  The  latter  of  these  in- 
dicates the  great  point  of  contrast  between  all 
that  has  engaged  us  heretofore  in  these  studies, 
and  that  which  is  now  to  follow.  The  re- 
maining two  chapters  set  forth  the  final 
states,  either  of  the  saved  or  of  the  lost. 
Evidence  of  this  will  appear  in  the  course  of 
the  following  exposition.  With  the  judg- 
ment, man's  earthly  history  ends.  The  "mys- 
tery of  God"  is  "finished."  Promise,  and 
prophecy,  and  tj^pe,  have  been  all  fulfilled ; 
the  designs  of  God  in  appointing  to  man  such 
a  dwelling-place,  and  for  so  long  a  period,  have 
been  all  accomplished.  W^hat  remains  of  the 
book  is  the  lifting  of  a  veil  beyond  which  lie 
the  endless  spaces  of  the  changeless  future. 

Upon  the  final  condition  of  lost  men,  our 
book,  in  this  part  of  it,  does  not  dwell  at 
length.  The  two  closing  chapters  are  almost 
wholly  occupied  with  pictures  of  the  saved  in 
their  happy  state.  Only  an  alluf.ion  here  and 
there  brings  to  our  attention  that  contrasted 
picture  from  which  even  inspiration  seems  to 
turn  away,  as  if  it  were  too  sorrowful  and 


terrible  for  steady  contemplation.  It  is  a 
mystery  into  which  we  can  have  no  desire  to 
penetrate.  That  the  justice  of  the  divine  ad- 
ministration, that  i)rinciple  of  rectitude  so 
essential  in  a  perfect  moral  sovereignty,  will 
be  completely  satisfied  and  vindicated,  there 
can  be  no  doubt.  That  the  doom  of  the 
finally  lost  will  be  no  more  severe  than  those 
great  interests  of  universal  justice  demand, 
we  may  be  sure.  All  that  is  doubtful  to  us, 
all  that  is  hard  to  un<lerstand,  all  that  appeals 
to  pity  or  to  terror,  we  leave  with  that 
"Judge  of  all  the  earth"  wlio  will  "do 
right." 

The  indications  are  that  the  overthrow  and 
subjection  of  evil  in  the  universe  is  to  be  com- 
plete and  final.  If  we  knew  all  that  is  to  be 
known  of  reasons  of  the  divine  procedure  in 
permitting  a  calamity  so  fearful  as  the  origi- 
nal outbreak  of  evil— that  sin  "  which  brought 
death  into  the  world  and  all  our  woe" — we 
should  most  certainly  acquiesce  in  it  as  infi- 
nitely to  be  approved.  All  the  more  are  we 
sure  of  this  as  we  see  that  the  period  during 
which  evil  shall  have  scope  and  opportunity  has 
its  fixed  and  unalterable  limit.  The  overthrow 
of  evil,  however,  will  not  be  its  annihilation. 
Its  "everlasting  punishment,"  the  "smoke" 
of  its  "torment  ascending  forever  and  ever," 
necessitate  the  implication  that  there  will  be 
those  who  suffer;  otherwise  the  "punish- 
ment," the  "torment"  is  a  clear  impossi- 
bility. But  the  world  of  doom  will  forever 
be  a  region  apart.  Never  again  will  evil  be 
suifered  to  break  out  of  bounds,  or  Satan 
allowed  to  go  forth  to  deceive  the  nations. 
Into  the  City  of  the  Blessed  "there  shall  in 
no  wise  enter  any  thing  that  defilcth,  neither 
whatsoever  worketh  abomination  or  maketh 
a  lie."  "For  the  former  things  are  passed 
away."  

ALL  THINGS  NEW. 

1.  The  New  Heaven  and  New  Earth. 

1.  And  I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new 
earth.  A  crucial  question  meets  us  in  the 
opening  verse  of  this  chapter.     What  is  to  be 


286 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XXI. 


understood  by  the   "new  heaven   and    new 
earth"  ?    A  correct  exposition  of  much  which 
follows  will  depend  upon  the  answer  to  this 
question.     There  are  two  words  in  the  Greek 
iveoi  and  KaLvoi),  representative  of  our  English 
word   "new."     These  two  words  distinguish 
shades  of  meaning  which  our  own  language 
does  not  express  in  any  such  way.     It  is  the 
second  word    (xaii'ds),    which   occurs    in    this 
place,  and,  indeed,  throughout  the  book ;  as 
where  we  read  of  the  "new  name"  (ch.2:i7), 
the  "new song"  (5:9;  u:3),  "new  Jerusalem," 
in  ver.   2   of  this  present  chapter,   and  the 
making  all  things  new,"  in  ver.  5.     A  further 
example  of   New   Testament  usage,   in  this 
regard,    is  at   Matt.    13 :  52,    where   the  wise 
householder  is  described  as  bringing  out  of 
his  treasure  "things  new  and  old";   also,  at 
Matt.   27:60,    and  John    19:41,    where   the 
tomb  in  which  our  Lord  was  laid  is  spoken 
of  as  "new."     The  latter  word  ((catfds),  is  used 
in  all  these  places,  and  in  others  similar.     It 
is  the  word   employed  in   speaking  here  of 
the  "new  heaven  and  new  earth."     Perhaps 
a  passage  somewhat  more  to  the  present  pur- 
pose, is  that  at  Luke  22 :  20,  where  our  Lord 
says:   "This  cup  is  the  new  [icaifd?]  testament 
[covenant]  in  my  blood."     The  distinction  in 
the  two  Greek  words  (ve'os,  Kcuvoi),  seems  to  be 
that,  while  the  former  expresses  newness  of 
aspect,   appearance,  the  latter  denotes  new- 
ness in  kind;    newness  in  contrast  to  what  is 
old;  a  sense  strongly  implied  in  all  the  cases 
noted   above.      A  word   is  also  used  by  our 
Lord  (Matt.  19:28),  apparently  in  allusion  to  the 
same    "new  heaven   and   new  earth,"   men- 
tioned in  our  passage,  a  study  of  which  may 
help  us  at  this  point:   "Verily,   I  say  unto 
you,  ye  which  have  followed  me,  in  the  re- 
generation, when  the  Son  of  man  shall  sit  on 
the  throne  of  his  glory,  ye  also  shall  sit  upon 
twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel."     It  is  not,  we  should  observe:   "ye 
which  have  followed  me  in  the  regeneration," 
as  is  sometimes  read;    but,  "ye  which  have 
followed  me,"  shall   in   the  regeneration   sit 
upon  thrones,  etc.    The  mention  of  the  Son  of 
man  sitting  on  the  throne  of  his  glory,  points 
forward  to  that  "regeneration"  of  which  we 
are  to  learn  in  our  present  chapter;  the  mak- 
ing all  things  new.     The  word  for  "regene- 
ration," (iraii.i.vytvt<Tia),  is  the  Same  as  is  used  to 
denote  the  Christian  new  birth  in  Tit.  3:  5, 
where  we  read  of  "the  washing  of  regenera- 


tion." The  Christian  new  birth  is  a  new 
creation  only  in  a  figurative  sense,  implying 
transfo7nnation,  radical  moral  change — the 
human  nature,  the  man,  retaining  its  per- 
sonal identity  unchanged.  Our  Lord's  use 
of  the  word  in  reference  to  that  "new  birth" 
of  the  physical  creation  to  which  we  are  now 
directing  attention,  warrants  a  view  of  the 
new  heaven  and  the  new  earth  somewhat 
corresponding  to  that  "new  man  in  Chri.st 
Jesus,"  which  is  the  result  of  spiritual  re- 
generation.— For  the  first  heaveu  and  the 
first  earth  were  passed  away.  AVe  may 
here  refer  to  the  passage  in  2  Pet.  3:7:  "  But 
the  heavens  that  now  are,  and  the  earth,  by 
the  same  word,  have  been  stored  up  for  fire 
[or  stored  with  fire],  being  reserved  against 
the  day  of  judgment  and  destruction  of  un- 
godly men."  {Revised  Version).  It  does  not 
belong  to  us,  in  this  place,  to  discuss  at  length 
the  words  quoted.  We  may  note,  however, 
that  they  do  not  necessarily  teach  that  the 
heaven,  or  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  the 
earth,  are  to  be  absolutely  consumed  by  fire, 
nor  that  the  words  before  considered  in  20 :  14 : 
"Before  whose  face  the  earth  and  the  heaven 
fled  away,"  are  to  be  so  understood.  Peter 
does  not  say,  or  imply,  in  the  words  quoted, 
that  the  earth  shall  be  actually  burned  up. 
In  ver.  10,  of  the  same  chapter,  the  words 
occur,  in  our  version  ;  "  The  earth  also,  and  the 
works  that  are  therein,  shall  be  burned  up." 
But  there  is  here  a  disputed  reading.  The 
text  of  Westcott  and  Hort  has,  "shall  be  dis- 
covered" (eiipee^o-cTai) ;  although  the  revision 
translates  "burned  up,"  with  the  note  in  the 
margin.  "The  most  ancient  manuscripts 
ve&d  discovered.^ ^  "Shall  be  found,"  is  pro- 
posed as  an  alternative.  EUicott's  and  the 
Speaker's  Commentary  suggest  that  the  difli- 
culty  found  in  the  obscurity  of  the  passage  in 
this  translation,  might  be  relieved  by  giving 
it  the  interrogatorial  form:  "And  shall  the 
earth  and  the  works  therein  be  found?"* 
We  need  not  decide  the  point  here.  It  will 
suffice  to  say  that  even  taking  the  rendering 
"burned  up,"  we  are  not  obliged  to  conclude 
that  the  destruction  of  the  earth  by  fire  will 
be  total,  or  that  more  is  implied  than  such 
changes,  by  means  of  fire  and,  perhaps,  of 
other  physical   agencies,  as  will  adapt   it   to 

'Alford  thinks  that  the  word  (fupeflijcreTat),  shall  he 
found,  grew  out  of  the  word  urenlur,  (shall  be  burned 
up),  in  the  same  Latin  version. 


Ch.  XXL] 


REVELATION. 


287 


2  And  I  John  saw  "the  holy  city,  new  Jerusalem,  1  2  the  sea  is  no  more.  And  I  saw  '  the  holy  city,  new 
coming  down  from  Ciod  out  of  heaven,  prepared  »as  a  Jerusalem  coming;  down  out  of  heaven  from  (Jod, 
bride  adorned  for  her  husband.  |      made  ready  as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband. 


alsa.  52:1;  Gal.  4:-26;  Heb.  11:  10;  12:22;  13:14;  oh.  3:  12;  ver.  10. ..  .6  Isa.  !>4 :  5 ;  61:  10;  2  Cor.  11 :  2. 1  Or,  the  holy  citi/ 

Jerusalem  coming  down  new  out  of  heaven. 


the  new  life  that  is  to  be  lived  upon  its  surface. 
There  have  been  already  many  such  changes 
in  the  physical  history  of  our  globe.  There 
is  nothing  unlikely,  but  much  in  itself  prob- 
able, in  the  idea  that  still  another  and  a  yet 
more  signal  change  awaits  it.  The  earth  as 
it  now  is,  was  fitted  to  be  the  abode  of  human 
beings  during  the  long  ages  appointed  for 
the  working  out  of  God's  plan  of  redemption. 
"When  that  period  ends,  it  is  natural  to  sup- 
pose that  a  new  phase  will  appear  in  even  the 
earth's  own  condition,  and  that  through  ap- 
propriate transformations  it  will  be  itself  re- 
generated, and  so  made  a  fitting  abode  for 
regenerated  man.  It  would  be,  besides,  quite 
in  the  order  of  customary  divine  procedure, 
if  all  this  were  to  come  about,  in  part  at  least, 
in  a  use  of  agencies  and  laws  already  active. 
It  is  often  remarked  how  the  elements  of 
fresh  physical  revolutions  are  stored  beneath 
the  earth's  crust,  and  in  its  atmosphere,  with 
a  possibility  of  outbreaks  such  as  shall  con- 
sume what  is  now  seen  upon  its  surface,  and 
possibly  change  the  very  "elements"  of 
things  in  nature.  It  is  more  diflScult  to  see 
in  what  sense  the  old  "heaven"  shall  "pass 
away,"  and  a  "new  heaven"  appear.  Per- 
haps all  we  need  to  infer  is,  that  such  changes 
in  atmospheric  conditions  and  the  relations  of 
other  worlds  to  our  own,  as  are  necessarily 
involved  in  those  transpiring  in  the  earth 
itself,  will  occur.  We  understand,  therefore, 
from  the  words  under  consideration,  only 
that  the  old  earth  and  heaven  "pass  away" 
in  the  sense  of  experiencing  changes  which  fit 
them  for  the  new  and  heavenly  life  of  the 
redeemed,  and  that  in  this  sense  there  will  be 
"a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth."  AU  that  is 
involved  in  this  no  one  can  safely  undertake  to 
show. — And  there  was  no  more  sea.  "yl?irZ 
the  sea.  does  not  exist  longer,"  will  be  a  literal 
rendering.  The  explanations  proposed  are 
numerous.  The  Speakey  s  Commenfnrj/  groups 
them  thus:  (1)  The  sea  exists  no  longer,  be- 
cause the  "  new  earth"  has  arisen  out  of  the  fire 
(Beda,  De  Wette,  Ebrard,  Alford,  Bisping) ; 
(2)  The  former  "sea"  has  passed  away,  like 
the  former  "earth";  but  this  does  not  pre- 
clude a  "new"  sea,  any  more  than  a  "new" 


earth  (Diisterdieck);  (3)  The  sea  of  the 
nations,  the  wicked,  restless  world  (St.  Au- 
gustine, Heng.stenberg,  Wordsworth);  (4) 
Because  in  Paradise  there  was  no  sea,  and 
here  all  is  Paradise  (Ziillig);  (5)  Because  no 
longer  required  to  separate  and  keep  apart 
divisions  of  the  human  race  (Andreas,  Ger- 
lach);  (6)  The  old  heaven  and  earth  of  the 
former  Israel  having  passed  away,  the  sea, 
the  emblem  of  the  Gentiles,  is  no  more  (I. 
Williams).  The  Sj^eaker' s  Cominentary  pre- 
fers the  exposition  noted  as  (3).  The  view 
of  Carpenter  seems  substantially  the  same. 
Underlying  this  figurative  sense,  however, 
why  may  there  not  be  a  literal  one,  as  in  that 
of  the  new  earth  ?  The  earth  will  be  new 
physically,  as  well  as  in  a  higher  and  wider 
sense  than  simply  a  phj'sical  one,  whatever 
that  may  import — in  a  high  spiritual  sense, 
involving  all  that  belongs  essentially  to  the 
new,  glorious,  and  immortal  life  of  its  re- 
deemed inhabitants.  We  doubt  if  it  is  con- 
sistent with  the  rules  of  correct  interpreta- 
tion, to  treat  the  new  earth  as  involving  thus' 
the  literal  with  the  figurative,  and  to  take  the 
word  "sea"  only  in  a  sense  strictly  sym- 
bolical. All  that  which  the  sea  has  s^'mbol- 
ized  in  various  parts  of  this  book  will  doubt- 
less have  passed  away.  But  whj*  not  the  sea 
itself,  at  least  in  so  fsir  as  will  satisfy  the  real 
import  of  the  passage?  The  redeemed  race 
will  be  one,  no  longer  many,  and  no  longer 
needing  to  be  protected  against  each  other's 
aggression  by  interposed  oceans.  The  con- 
ditions of  life  will  be  changed,  and  that 
"highway  of  nations,"  now  used  for  so 
many  purposes,  will  be  needed  no  longer. 
The  physical  uses  of  these  wide  watery  tracts 
will  be  called  for  no  more,  under  conditions 
so  "new"  as  will  exist  in  the  "new  heaven 
and  new  earth."  We  can  see  no  serious  ob- 
jection to  taking  the  words  "there  shall  be  no 
more  sea,"  in  the  same  blending  of  the  literal 
and  figurative,  as  in  the  sense  of  the  nevr 
earth  and  the  new  heaven. 

2-4.  New  Jerusalem.  The  Taber- 
nacle OF  God  -with   Men. 

2.  And  I  John  saw  the  holy  city,  new 
Jerusalem,  coming  down  from  God  out 


288 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XXI. 


3  And  I  heard  a  great  voice  out  of  heaven  saying, 
Behold,  "tlie  tabernacle  of  God  i.s  with  men,  and  he 
will  dwell  with  theiu,  and  they  shall  be  his  people,  and 
God  himself  shall  be  with  them,  and  be  their  God. 


3  And  I  heard  a  great  voice  out  of  the  throne  saying, 
Behold,  the  tabernacle  of  (iod  is  with  men,  and  he 
shall  'dwell  with  them,  and  they  shall  be  his 
peoples,  and  God  himself  shall  be  with  them,  -and  be 


a  Lev.  26: 11,  12;  Ezek.  43  :  7 ;  2Cor.6:I6;  cb.7:15. 1  Qr.  tabernacle.... 2  Some  ancient  authorities  omit,  aud  be  (Aeir  God. 


of  heaven,  prepared  as  a  bride  adorned 
for  her  husband.  The  name,  "Jolin,"  should 
be  omitted.  The  descending  city  is  seen  in 
vision.  By  "the  holy  city"  we  understand 
the  redeemed  church  in  its  final  felicity  and 
glory.  Its  descent  out  of  heaven  belongs  to 
the  scenery  of  the  vision,  and  symbolizes 
that  manifestation  of  the  church  in  this 
final  heavenly  state  in  which  all  the  results 
of  completed  redemption  shall  gloriously 
appear.  In  the  imagery  here,  as  seen  in 
connection  with  ver.  1,  2  of  the  next  chapter, 
there  is  a  blending  of  the  city  and  the 
garden — Jerusalem  and  Eden.  Both  are 
used  to  represent  the  final  state  of  the  saved: 
Eden  as  implying  the  recovery  in  redetnption 
of  all  that  had  been  lost  in  the  fall,  and  Jeru- 
salem as  implying  the  security  of  the  re- 
deemed. The  garden  had  lain  open  to  the 
tempter.  Man's  condition  then  was  one  of 
moral  trial.  Man  redeemed  will  be  safe  for- 
ever. Of  this,  the  walled  city  is  the  expres- 
sive symbol.  The  use  of  the  city  Jerusalem 
to  represent  this  is  eminently  appropriate. 
Jerusalem  was  the  central  scene  of  the  divine 
manifestation  during  the  long  ages  of  time. 
The  temple  and  worship  of  the  true  God  were 
there,  and  there  onlj',  in  all  the  earth.  The 
revelations  of  himself  which  God  made 
during  those  centuries  culminated  there. 
When  Christ,  the  God  manifest,  came,  it 
was  to  this  "holy  city."  Through  its  gates 
he  passed,  when  that  word  to  Zion  was  ful- 
filled:  "Behold  thy  King  cometh  !  "  There 
he  manifested  his  divine  power  and  sove- 
reignty. There,  also,  he  suffered,  "the  just 
for  the  unjust."  Over  its  doom  he  wept — the 
beloved  citj'.  Herein  were  types  significant 
of  great  things,  and  in  the  New  Jeru.salem  all 
these  types  are  fulfilled,  as  we  shall  see. 
Commentators  seem  to  puzzle  themselves 
unnecessarily  over  the  clause :  "Prepared  as  a 
bride  adorned  for  her  husband."  If  the 
marriage  of  the  Lamb  occurred  before  the 
millennium,  they  ask,  how  is  it  that  now,  after 
a  period  of  a  thousand  years,  she  is  still 
spoken  of  as  the  "Bride"?  "It  is  rather 
awkward,"  writes  Dr.  Brown,  "to  suppose 
a  bridal  preparation  and  the  presentation  of 


the  parties  to  each  other,  a  thousand  years 
after  the  union  has  been  consummated." 
This  is  to  invent  diflRculties.  There  is  noth- 
ing said,  here,  of  "a  presentation  of  the 
parties  to  each  other,"  neither  is  it  said  or 
implied  that  the  church  comes  from  heaven 
as  a  bride.  The  simile  is  used  merely  to 
describe  the  glorious  appearance  of  what  is 
seen,  and  is  a  simile  purely.  The  marriage 
of  the  Lamb  came  in  that  consummation  of 
his  redeeming  work  which  was  seen  In  the 
millennium.  His  redeemed  people  now  ap- 
pear as  "a  glorious  church,  not  having  spot, 
or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing;  holy  and  with, 
out  blemish,"  (Epii.5:?7).  This  is  all  that  the 
simile  imports.  The  bearing  upon  this  of 
ver.  9  will  be  noticed  presently. 

3.  And  I  heard  a  great  voice  out  of 
heaven,  saying.  Behold  the  tabernacle 
of  God  is  with  men,  and  he  shall  dwell 
with  them.  Literally,  ''he  shM  tnhei^nncle 
with  them."  The  best  manuscript  also  reads : 
"a  great  voice  out  of  the  throne."  In  ch.  7 
occurs  what  resembles  the  closing  words  of 
our  present  passage,  and  yet  difl^ers.  We 
there  read,  as  in  the  correct  translation,  and 
in  allusion  to  the  redeemed, "God  shall  taber- 
nacle over  them,"  "shall  spread  his  taber- 
nacle ove?'  (eVt)  them."  Here  we  read:  "God 
shall  tabernacle  with  (fifra)  them."  It  is 
the  same  general  idea,  but  in  the  words 
now  before  us  expressed  in  a  specially  em- 
phatic way.  What  is  said  is  that  God  will 
have  his  dwelling  in  the  midst  of  them. 
—And  they  shall  be  his  people.  The  word 
in  the  Greek  is  plural — "peoples."  It  will 
be  noticed  that  the  revision  so  translates.  It 
would  seem  that  a  distinction  is  intention- 
ally made  between  those  who  are  "redeemed 
out  of  every  tribe,  and  tongue,  and  nation, 
and  people"  (ch. 5:9),  and  that  one  people  who 
were  anciently  chosen,  not  as  God's  sole  elect 
ones,  but  as  a  typical  peojile  foreshadowing 
the  later  "election  of  grace."  This  redeemed 
company  is  not  only  "a  multitude  which  no 
man  can  number,"  but  represents  in  its  vast 
and  various  assemblages  all  the  world's  ages 
and  "peoples."  And  these  are  all  God's 
"peoples."     Distinctions  of  nationality  will 


Ch.  XXL] 


REVELATION. 


289 


4  "And  God  sliall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their 
eyes;  and  'there  shall  he  no  more  death,  ^neither 
sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  he  any  more 
pain  :  for  the  Cornier  things  are  passed  away. 

5  And  rfhe  that  sat  upon  the  throne  said,  'Behold,  I 
make  all  things  new.  And  he  said  unto  me,  Write: 
for /these  words  are  true  and  faithful. 


4  their  God :  and  he  shall  wipe  away  every  tear  from 
their  eyes;  and  death  shall  he  no  more;  neither 
shall  there  lie  mourning,  nor  crying,  nor  pain,  any 

Smore:  the  first  things  are  passed  away.  And  he 
that  sitteth  on  the  throne  said,  lithold,  I  make  all 
things  new.    And  he  saith,  'Write:  for  these  words 


oIs!i.  25:  8;  ch.  7:  17.... 6  1  Cor.  15 :  26,  54  ;  ch.  20:14....  cisa. .%:  10;  61:3:  65:  19....d  ch.  4 :  2.  9 :  5:1;  20:  ll....«Isa  43- 19- 
2  Cor.  5 :  17 /  ch.  19  :  9. 1  Or,  Write,  These  words  are  faithful  and  true.  '      ' 


no  doubt  have  disappeared,  at  least  in  the 
old  divisive  sense,  and  still  the  fact  seems  to 
survive,  in  some  form,  that  redemption  had 
gathered  its  trophies  thus  widelj',  and  thus 
without  discrimination  of  race  or  clime. — 
And  God  himself  shall  be  with  them, 
and  be  their  God.  Alford  translates, "  and 
he  shall  be  God  with  them."  This  would 
recall  more  vividly  than  either  the  common 
version  or  the  revision,  the  saying  in  Matt. 
1 :  23:  "They  shall  call  his  name  Emmanuel, 
which  being  interpreted  is,  God  with  us." 
Possibly,  too,  it  might  suggest  that  amongst 
the  redeemed  in  glory  the  God  manifest  will 
be  the  glorified  Redeemer  himself.  The 
Sinaitic  manuscript  omits  "their  God"  {''and 
he"  being  supplied  in  the  translation  where 
the  words  are  retained).  Westcott  and  Hort 
adopt  this  amended  reading,  although  the 
revi.sers  evidently  have  not  followed  it.  Al- 
ford retains  the  words,  translating,  "and  he 
shall  be  God  with  them,  their  God."  In  any 
case,  it  rather  weakens,  than  helps,  the  force 
of  the  passage  to  supply,  in  translating,  the 
words  "and  be."  Alford's  text,  it  should  be 
added,  diifers  somewhat  from  that  used  by 
the  revisers ;  yet,  even  with  his  text,  the  trans- 
lation proposed  by  him  is  a  questionable  one. 
It  is  safer  to  translate,  as  in  the  revision, 
"and  God  himself  shall  be  with  them." 
At  the  same  time,  it  is  quite  proper  to  note 
in  connection  with  these,  the  words  in  Matt. 
1  :  23,  as  illustrative  of  the  meaning  here. 

4.  And  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears 
from  their  eyes.  ''Every  tear"  is  more 
expressive. — And  there  shall  be  no  more 
death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying, 
neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain. 
What  shall  7iof  be  in  the  heavenly  state  is 
scarcely  less  momentous  to  us  than  that 
which  shall  he.  The  words  in  the  Greek  are 
more  forcible  than  in  the  translation.  The 
word  for  "sorrow"  means,  strictly,  "wailing." 
"Itdenotes,"  says  Trench,  "thatgrief  which 
so  takes  possession  of  the  whole  being  that  it 
cannot  be  hid."     It  means,  especitilly,  mourn- 


ing for  the  dead.  "The  'crying,'  "  says  Car- 
penter in  Ellicott,  "is  the  voice  of  despair 
and  dismay,  as  well  as  sorrow."  The  em- 
phatic words  so  used  set  forth  the  more 
vividly  the  contrast  between  the  "former 
things"  and  those  which  in  the  new  heaven 
and  new  earth  shall  be  found. 

5-8.  The  Life  Eternal  and  the  Sec- 
ond Death. 

5.  And  he  that  sat  upon  the  throne 
said.  Behold,  I  make  all  things  new. 
Lange  evidently  understands  the  great  white 
throne,  referring  to  ch.  20:  11;  so  likewise 
Alford.  We  do  not  see  how  this  can  be. 
That  vision  has  passed  wholly  from  the  scene, 
and  with  it  the  throne,  its  Occupant,  and  the 
judgment.  These  are  a  part  of  "  the  former' 
things"  which  "have  passed  away."  It  ia 
better,  in  our  opinion,  to  recall  the  fact  that 
the  throne  described  at  chap.  4:  2,  3;  in  5:  1  ;. 
and  in  other  places,  remains  through  all  this 
succession  of  visions  as  a  fixed  element  in 
the  Apocalyptic  scenery.  It  is  "out  of"  this 
throne  that  the  "great  voice"  came,  men-. 
tione-d  in  ver.  3  of  our  present  chapter,  de- 
claring to  John  and  to  us  the  significance  of 
all  this  which  thus  passes  before  him  in 
vision.  It  is  now  from  the  same  throne  that 
God  speaks,  saying,  "Behold,  I  make  all 
things  new."  It  is  declaring  that  time,  the 
old  earth,  and  the  old  state  of  trial,  with  its 
vicissitudes,  its  temptations,  its  pains,  and  its 
death,  are  no  more.  At  the  same  time,  offers 
of  redemption,  promises  of  grace,  hopes 
looking  to  the  future,  and  faith  resting  in  a 
revealed  word — these,  too,  are  "  passed  away." 
Faith  "is  turned  to  sight,"  hope  has  come  to 
a  full  fruition.  Time,  with  all  its  offers  and 
opportunities,  is  ended.  The  saved  have 
nothing  now  to  fear;  the  unsaved  have 
nothing  to  hope. — And  he  said  unto  mc. 
Write,  for  [hecanse]  these  words  are  true 
and  faithful.  "Faithful  ["  worfliy  to  be 
trusted"],  &nA  ivwG  [or  " genuine"]."  It  is 
not  the  attending  angel  who  speaks — if  we 
suppose   an   attending  angel   throughout,    iM 


290 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XXI. 


6  And  he  said  unto  me,  "It  is  done.  *Iam  Alpha 
and  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  end.  'I  will  give 
unto  hiui  that  is  athirst  ot  the  I'ouutain  of  the  water  of 
life  freelv. 

7  He  thatoverconieth  shall  inherit  all  things;  and"*! 
will  be  his  (jod,  and  he  shall  be  uiy  sou. 

8  "But  the  fearful,  and  unbelieving,  and  the  abomi- 
nable, and  murderers,  and  whoremongers,  and  sor- 
cerers, and  idolaters,  and  all  liars,  shall  have  their 
part  in  /the  lake  which  burneth  with  tire  and  brim- 
stone :  which  is  the  second  death. 


6  are  faithful  and  true.  And  he  said  unto  me,  They 
are  come  to  pass.  1  am  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega, 
the  beginning  and  the  eud.  I  will  give  unto  him 
that   is  athirst  of  the  fountain  of  the  water  of  lite 

7  freely.  He  that  overcometh  shall  inherit  these 
things;  and  I  will  be  his  Ood,  and  he  shall  be  my 

8  son.  But  for  the  fearful,  and  unbelieving,  and 
abominable,  and  murderers,  and  fornicators,  and 
sorcerers,  and  idolaters,  and  all  liars,  their  part 
shall  be  in  the  lake  that  burneth  with  tire  and  brim- 
stone ;  which  is  the  second  death. 


I  oh   16-  17        ftch   1  -S-  22:  1.1....clsn.  12:3;  55:  1  ;  John  4:  10,  14;  7:37;  ch.22:  17...  .d  Zech.  8:  8  ;  Heb.  8  :  10.... el  Cor. 
6:  a,  10;  Gal.  5:  19,20,21;  Ephes.  5 :  5;  ITiin.  1:9;  Heb.  12:14;  oh.  22  :  15..../ch.  20:  14  15. 


some  do — but  the  same  voice  from  the  throne. 
That  which  John  is  to  "write"  is  the  faithful 
and  true  words  now  spoken,  especially  those 
immediately  following,  which  declare  the 
final  .state  of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked. 

6.  And  he  said  unto  me,  It  is  done. 
The  Greek  word  is  in  the  plural,  and  its 
literal  rendering  is,  as  in  the  revision,  "They 
are  come  to  pass."  The  word  also  translated 
"It  is  done,"  in  ch.  16:  17,  is  the  same  word, 
but  in  the  singular.  The  allusion  there  is  to 
a  specific  incident  in  the  order  of  Apocalyptic 
disclosure.  Here  it  is,  says  Wordsworth, 
"the  divine  promises  and  judgments"; 
Lange,  all  the  things  before  spoken  (the 
Adyot) — "they  have  become  facts";  the  Speak- 
er's Commentary,  "what  the  seer  has  beheld 
is  now  accomplished;  the  old  world  has 
passed  away,  the  new  earth  has  come  into 
being" — expositions  whicli  are  substantially 
equivalent.— I  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the 
beginning  and  the  end.  "The  Alpha  and 
the  Omega"  is  better.  This  declaration  has 
already  occurred  at  ch.  1 :  8,  and  again  occurs 
at  22 :  13,  below.  In  the  verse  now  before  us 
it  seems  to  be  God  the  Father  who  speaks,  as 
in  1:  8.  In  22:  13,  it  is  plainly  the  Lord 
Jesus,  or  some  voice  representative  of  him. 
The  word.s  following,  in  that  place,  "  Behold. 
I  come  quickly,"  seem  decisive  on  that  point. 
It  would  appear,  therefore,  that  these  words, 
so  expressive  of  that  eternity  of  being  which 
belongs  alone  to  God,  are  in  this  book  given 
as  alike  words  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son — 
consistently  with  that  saying  of  the  latter  in 
the  Gospel  by  the  .same  writer,  "I  and  my 
Father  are  one.'— I  Avill  give  unto  him 
that  is  athirst  of  the  fountain  of  the 
water  of  life,  freely.  We  are  reminded  of 
the  passage  in  Isaiah  (55:  i),  "Ho,  every  one 
that  thirsteth  ";  also  of  our  Lord's  words  to 
the  woman  of  Samaria  (.iohn4:  u).  Those  de- 
sires and   longings  of  man's  soul   which  the 


world  never  satisfies  and  never  can,  are  in 
these  cases,  and  in  others,  represented  by  the 
sensation  of  "thirst."  The  allusion  is  especi- 
ally to  those  desires  after  spiritual  good 
which  the  Spirit  of  God  awakens.  In  the 
case  of  the  saved,  the  soul's  thirst  shall  be 
slaked  at  "the  fountain  of  life."  It  is  a 
perpetual,  exhaustless,  not  intermittent,  sup- 
ply, like  a  fountain  whose  drainless  sources 
never  fail.  Generation  after  generation,  cen- 
tury after  century,  it  gives  drink  to  the 
thirsty.  Such  as  this  is  "the  fountain  of 
life."  It  draws  upon  the  "fullness"  of  God, 
and  shall  be  exhaustless  forever.  And  it  is 
"free."  Pre-eminently,  then,  will  the  words 
be  true,  "Whosoever  will." 

7.  He  that  overcometh  shall  inherit 
all  things.  "Shall  inherit  these  things" 
(TauTtt).  The  "things"  exhibited  in  the  vision, 
including  all  that  are  yet  to  be  mentioned, 
and  all  that  has  ever  been  the  subject  of 
divine  promi.se. — And  I  will  be  his  God, 
and  he  shall  be  my  son.  How  wonder- 
fully near  to  us  does  the  divine  Father 
come  in  this,  and  how  tender  are  the  Avords 
of  assurance!  The  promise  comes  to  a  climax 
just  as  the  fearful  words  of  doom  upon  the 
unsaved  are  about  to  be  uttered. 

8.  But  the  fearful,  and  unbelieving, 
and  the  abominable,  and  murderers,  and 
whoremongers,  and  sorcerers,  and  idol- 
aters, and  all  liars,  shall  have  their  part 
in  the  lake  which  burneth  Avith  fire  and 
brimstone,  which  is  the  second  death. 
The  amended  translation  in  tlie  revision  will 
be  noticed.  By  "the  fearful"  we  must  un- 
derstand such  as  those  mentioned  in  Heb.  10: 
38;  those  who  "draw-back,"  ".shrink  back," 
in  the  revision,  and  in  the  verse  following, 
"them  that  .shrink  back  unto  perdition." 
There  is  no  reference,  of  course,  to  that  "fear 
and  trembling"  with  which  we  are  exhorted 
to  work  out  our  own  salvation  ;    nor  to  that 


Ch.  XXL] 


REVELATION. 


291 


9  And  there  came  unto  nie  one  of  "the  seven  angels 
which  had  the  seven  vials  full  of  the  seven  last  plagues, 
and  tulked  with  me,  saying.  Come  hither,  I  will  shew 
thee  '  the  bride,  the  Lamh's  wife. 

10  And  he  carried  nie  away  "iu  the  spirit  to  a  great 
and  high  mountain,  and  shewed  mc'that  great  city, 
the  holy  Jerusalem,  descending  out  of  heaven  froiu 
God. 


9  And  there  came  one  of  the  seven  angels  who  had 
the  seven  bowls,  who  were  laden  with  the  seven  last 
plagues;  and  he  spake  with  me,  saying.  Come  hither 
I  will  shew  thee  the  bride,  the  wile  of  the  Lamb! 
10  And  he  carried  me  away  in  the  Spirit  to  a  mountain 
great  and  high,  and  shewed  me  the  holy  city  Jcrusa- 


ach.  15:  1,6,  7....i  ch.  19:7;  ver.  2....C  ch.  1:  10;  17:3....d  Ezek.  48;  ver.  2. 


timorousness  which  an  overcoming  sense  of 
unworthiness  causes.  Hengstenberg  is  far 
from  being  justified  in  quoting  as  any  way  in 
point  tho.se  gentle  rebukes  by  our  Lord  of 
his  own  disciples,  for  their  "little  faith." 
The  man  in  the  parable  of  the  talents,  who 
accounts  his  lord  "an  austere  man"  and  is 
"afraid"  and  hides  his  talent  in  the  earth,  is 
more  like  what  is  intended  here.  Those  also 
are  included  who  "shrink  back"  from  the 
"hardness"  to  be  encountered  in  a  Christian 
life,  and  from  the  self-surrenders,  the  cross- 
bearing  made  necessary.  These  cut  them- 
selves off  from  the  benefits  implied  in  the 
gospel  offer  by  refusing  its  invitations.  By 
the  "unbelieving"  must  be  meant  rejecters 
of  Christ,  and  especially  scoffing  unbelievers 
who  make  a  mock  of  redemption  and  "do  de- 
spite unto  the  Spirit  of  grace."  The  "abom- 
inable" are  those  who  defile  themselves  with 
open  and  flagrant  sin,  like  the  murderer.?,  the 
fornicators,  the  sorcerers,  idolaters,  and  liars 
next  mentioned.  These  "go  away  into  ever- 
lasting punishment,"  represented  here  under 
that  same  imagery  which  has  already  been 
used  to  describe  the  fate  of  the  beast,  the 
false  prophet,  and  the  dragon.  It  is  a  "sec- 
ond death."  The  first  death  was  a  sundering 
of  body  and  soul,  and  separation  from  all  in 
this  life  to  which  it  is  natural  for  men  to  cling 
most  vehemently.  The  second  death  is  the 
perdition  of  the  soul  itself,  its  separation  from 
God,  from  heaven,  and  from  the  fountain  of 
life — given  over  to  the  evil  it  has  chosen,  as 
the  worst  of  puni.shments. 

9-27.  The  Holy  City  Described. 

9.  And  there  came  unto  me  one  of  the 
seven  angels  that  had  the  seven  last 
plagues.  It  was  "one  of  the  seven  angels 
which  had  the  seven  vials"  that  showed  to 
John  "the  judgment  of  the  great  harlot  that 
sitteth  upon  many  waters."  It  is  now  one  of 
the  same  seven  angels  who  shows  to  him  "the 
bride,  the  Lamb's  wife."  In  this  seems  to  be 
implied  the  part  these  angels  have  in  those 
"last  things"  which  belong  to  the  winding- 


up  of  earth's  history  and  the  manifestation  of 
"the  new  heaven  and  new  earth."  The  view 
is  thus  confirmed  which  treats  the  vials  as 
belonging  to  the  end  of  the  Dispensation. 
That  a  like  instrument  is  used  in  exhibiting 
to  us  those  strongly  contrasted  figures— the 
Harlot  and  the  Bride— makes  the  contrast 
itself  more  notable.  It  will  be  observed  that 
the  revision  translates,  "w;Ao  were  laden  with 
the  seven  last  plagues."  We  might  translate, 
"who  were  full  of."  [Thus,  the  angels  are 
said  to  be  full  of  that  with  which  the  bowls 
which  they  had  were,  more  strictly  speaking, 
filled.— A.  H.]  The  more  intense  expression 
is  used,  perhaps,  to  represent  more  vividly 
the  nature  of  the  plagues.— And  talked  with 
me,  saying,  Come  hither,  I  will  shew 
thee  the  bride,  the  Lamb's  wife.  This 
refers  to  her  who  has  before  been  spoken  of 
as  the  bride,  and  is  now  the  wife.  In  ver.  2, 
the  simile  of  the  "bride  adorned  for  her  hus- 
band" is  used,  as  before  explained,  to  describe 
the  redeemed  and  glorified  church.  In  the 
verse  now  considered,  there  is  an  allusion  to 
what  is  said  in  ch.  19:  7-9,  of  the  bridal 
splendor  and  the  happy  "marriage  supper." 
The  Lamb  and  the  bride  now  appear,  however, 
in  the  consummation  of  this  high  and  holy 
union;  it  is  "the  bride,  the  wife  of  tlieLamb." 
10.  And  he  carried  me  away  in  the 
spirit  to  a  great  and  high  mountain. 
The  preposition  (iir\)  Alford  i)refers  to  render 
"upon"  or  "onto."  This,  at  least,  is  im- 
plied. As  in  ch.  17:  3,  we  have  the  question 
to  consider  whether  to  translate  "in  the 
Spirit" — the  Holy  Spirit  —  or  simply  "in 
spirit."  Perhaps  the  place  in  ch.  1 :  10,  to 
which  we  again  refer  the  reader,  may  be 
allowed  to  decide  here  as  in  17:  3,  although 
the  cases  are  not  strictly  parallel.  But  as  in 
the  latter  place,  so  here,  it  is  not  the  source 
of  the  influence  of  which  John  is  conscious 
that  is  emphasized,  but  the  effect,  as  giving 
him  a  new  "ecstatic  direction"  (Lange).  We 
do  not  suppo.se  any  bodily  change  of  place, 
but  that  such  a  change  seems  to  occur,  be- 


292 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XXI. 


11  «  Having  the  glory  of  God :  and  her  light  was  like 
unto  a  stone  most  precious,  even  like  a  jasper  stone, 
clear  as  crystal ; 


11  lem,  coming  down  out  of  heaven  from  God,  having 
the  glory  of  God:  her  Might  was  like  unto  a  stone 
most  precious,  as  it  were   a  jasper  stone,  clear  as 


t  ver.  '23 ;  ch.  22 :  5. 1  Gr.  luminary. 


cause  of  the  change  made  in  the  Apoca- 
lyptic scenery. — And  she.wed  me  that 
great  city,  the  holy  Jerusalem,  descend- 
ing out  of  heaven  from  God.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  the  revision  has  "the  holy  city 
Jerusalem."  Before  it  has  been  called  "the 
new  Jerusalem";  now  it  is  "the  holy  city 
Jerusalem."  The  descriptive  word  "holy" 
seems  to  anticipate  what  soon  follows  in  the 
more  detailed  picture.  We  have  already 
touched  upon  what  is  implied  in  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  final  state  of  the  redeemed 
under  the  image  of  a  city.  The  chief  thing 
.so  intended  seems  to  be  security.  It  is  a 
walled  city.  The  imagery  is  based  upon 
facts  familiar  to  the  age  in  which  John 
wrote — familiar,  in  fact,  in  all  history  up  to 
recent  times.  Every  city  must  have  its  wall. 
Only  thus  could  those  dwelling  in  it  be  se- 
cure against  robber  hordes  in  time  of  peace, 
or  assaulting  armies  in  time  of  war;  to  one 
or  the  other  of  which  in  those  troubled  cen- 
turies they  might  almost  always  be  ex- 
posed. Nothing  is  implied,  here,  of  liability 
on  the  part  of  the  redeemed  to  renewed 
assault  from  the  hosts  of  evil,  such  as  when, 
following  the  millennium,  "the  camp  of 
the  saints  and  the  beloved  city"  were  be- 
leaguered by  the  hosts  of  Gog  and  Magog. 
A  single  thought  is  presented  in  this  image 
of  the  city  of  the  saved — that  of  the  com- 
pleteness of  their  salvation.  Two  points  of 
difference  are  noted  between  the  "holy 
city"  as  mentioned  here,  and  "the  beloved 
city"  in  20:  9— it  now  "descends  out  of 
heaven  from  God,"  and  it  is  "  holy."  Before 
it  was  "beloved,"  as  it  is  now;  but  now  it  is 
indeed,  "without  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any 
iiuch  thing."  All  that  is  imported  in  the 
clause,  "descending  out  of  heaven  from 
God,"  it  may  be  impossible  to  show.  There 
can  hardly  be  a  reference  to  what  Paul  says 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians,  of  being 
"caught  up  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air," 
since  the  representation  here  is  so  wholly 
scenic.  "We  may,  perhaps,  interpret  the 
symbolism  as  setting  forth,  chiefly,  two  ideas: 
(1)  the  perfection  of  the  final  saved  state — 
heavenly  perfection ;  (2)  that  this  perfection 
is  "  from  God." 


11.    Having    the    glory    of    God.      A 

"glory"  caused  by  the  immediate  presence 
of  God,  and  more  fully  indicated  as  to  its 
nature  in  what  follows. — And  her  light  was 
like  unto  a  stone  most  precious,  even 
like  a  jasper  stone,  clear  as  crystal. 
This  is  the  light  of  "the  glory  of  God,"  the 
splendor  of  the  Divine  Presence,  having  now 
its  dwelling  amidst  the  redeemed,  as  of  old 
the  Shekinah  of  the  tabernacle  and  temple. 
Hence,  it  is  literally  her  "light-giver" 
(</)co(rTijp),  including,  in  this  place,  however,  the 
light  imparted,  with  the  luminary  that  imparts. 
No  radiance  known  on  earth  could  fully 
represent  the  light  of  this  City  of  the  Blessed, 
save  that  of  "  a  stone  most  precious"  —  that 
diamond  lustre  which  combines  with  the 
"clearness  of  the  crystal,"  the  indescribable 
hue  that  makes  "the  stone  most  precious"  fit 
to  adorn  the  diadems  of  monarchs,  and  the 
most  coveted  of  earthly  things.  It  is  not 
"the  light  of  the  sun"  (.22:5),  nor  of  any 
artificial  illumination.  It  is  light  seen  only 
in  the  immediate  presence  of  God,  and  of 
which  we  can  only  say  that  the  most  glorious 
of  earthly  radiances  are  "like  unto"  it.  On 
comparing  the  description  of  the  glory  of 
him  that  sat  on  the  throne  in  ch.  4:  3,  4,  with 
that  of  the  glory  of  God  in  this  verse,  it  will 
be  .seen  that  there  is  a  marked  difference.  In 
the  former  it  is  said,  "  And  he  that  sat  was  to 
look  upon  like  a  jasper  and  a  sardine  stone  ; 
and  there  was  a  rainbow  round  about  the 
throne,  in  sight  like  unto  an  emerald."  In 
the  latter,  the  light  of  that  glory  "was  like 
unto  a  stone  most  precious,  even  like  a  jaspci 
stone  most  precious."  The  jasper,  with  its 
pure,  clear  radiance,  is  said  to  symbolize  the 
holiness  of  God;  tlie  sardius,  a  red  stone,  his 
righteous  wrath  against  iniquity  and  sin;  the 
rainbow,  his  grace  manifested  toward  the 
guilty.  These  were  all  in  place  in  the  for- 
mer representation  while  sin  was  to  be  dealt 
with  —  impenitence  to  be  visited  with  just 
displeasure,  and  grace  to  be  shown  toward 
the  penitent.  But  in  the  New  .lerusalem,  as 
Gebhardt  says,  "Very  naturally,  the  red  .sar- 
dius st<me,  as  well  as  the  bow  like  a  green 
emerald,  disappear,  and  only  the  jasper  of 
crystal  clearness  remains  as  an  image  of  God; 


Ch.  XXL] 


REVELATION. 


293 


12  And  had  a  wall  great  and  high,  and  had  "twelve 
gates,  aud  at  the  gates  twelve  angels,  aud  names  written 
thereon,  which  are  Ike  names  of  the  twelve  tribes  ot  the 
children  ot  Israel : 

13  'On  the  east  three  gates;  on  the  north  three  gates; 
on  the  south  three  gates;  and  on  the  west  three  gates. 

14  And  the  wall  of  the  city  had  twelve  foundations, 
and  "  in  them  the  names  of  the  twelve  apostles  of  the 
Lamb. 


12  crystal:  having  a  wall  great  and  high;  having 
twelve  'gates,  aud  at  the  'gates  twelve  angels;  and 
names  written  thereon,  which  are  t/ir;  nanus  of  the 

13  twelve  tribes  of  the  children  of  Israel:  on  the  east 
were  three  'gates;  and  on  the  north  three  'gates; 
aud  on  the  south  three  'gates;  and  on  tlie  west  tliree 

14 'gates.  And  the  wall  of  the  city  had  twelve  loun- 
dations,  and  on  them  twelve  names  of  the  twelve 


a  Ezek.  48  :  31-34 b  Ezek.  48 :  31-34 e  M»tt.  16 :  18 ;  Gal.  2:9;  Ephes.  2 :  20. 1  Gr.  portals. 


for,  with  the  end  of  the  old  world  and  its 
sins,  the  nature  of  God  can  no  longer  mani- 
fest itself  either  as  wrath  or  as  grace,  but  as 
holiness."  In  reading  the  verse,  we  should 
omit  "and,"  as  in  the  revision. 

12.  And  had  a  wall,  great  and  high, 
and  had  twelve  gates,  and  at  the  gates 
twelve  angels.  ^^  Having,"  etc.,  is  to  he 
substituted  for  "and  had"  in  each  place  here. 
The  imagery  in  the  description  which  now 
follows  seems  to  be,  in  some  sense,  a  repro- 
duction of  that  in  the  two  last  chapters  of 
Ezekiel,  which  might  be  read  with  profit  in 
this  connection.  The  picture  in  this  place, 
however,  limits  itself  to  the  city,  instead  of 
including  the  whole  land  of  Israel,  as  in 
the  former  case,  and  while  mentioning  some 
of  the  details  of  description  in  the  older 
prophecy,  adds  others.  Here,  as  there,  the 
city  has  twelve  gates;  but  we  read  here  of 
"twelve  angels,"  one  at  each  gate. — And 
names  written  thereon,  which  are  the 
names  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel.  So  also  in  Ezekiel,  the 
position  of  the  gates,  as  assigned  to  the  several 
tribes,  being  there  indicated. 

13.  On  the  east  three  gates ;  on  the 
north  three  gates;  on  the  south  three 
gates ;  and  on  the  west  three  gates.  A 
like  distribution  is  made  in  the  older  pro- 
phecy. 

14.  And  the  wall  of  the  city  had  twelve 
foundations,  and  in  [on]  them  the  names 
of  the  twelve  apostles  of  the  Lamb.  Of 
this,  Ezekiel,  a  prophet  of  the  law,  has  noth- 
ing to  say.  Such  imagery  was  possible  only 
when  the  gospel  had  come.  This  verse  has 
afforded  opportunity  for  some  of  the  most 
extraordinary  feats  of  modern  "criticism." 
Thus,  Kenan  founds  upon  it  evidence  of 
John's  ''hatred"  for  Paul.  Having  (L'  Antp- 
Christ  p.  34),  spoken  of  Peter  and  Paul  as 
"chiefs  of  the  opposing  parties  in  the  bosom 
of  the  church,"  he  proceeds  to  say  that  "the 
author  of  the  Apocalypse,  on  the  morrow  after 


the  death  of  the  apostles,  at  least  of  the  death 
of  Peter,"  is  seen  to  be  "of  all  the  Jewish 
Christians,  most  hostile  to  Paul."  In  a  foot- 
note he  gives  his  proof  of  this  extraordinary 
statement,  which  is  "above  all,"  this  passage 
in  our  book,  "which  excludes  Paul  from  the 
number  of  the  apostles."  From  which  we 
are  to  understand  that  in  representing  the 
foundations  of  the  city  as  twelve,  instead  of 
thirteen  (the  place  of  Judas  among  the  twelve 
having  been  filled  by  the  choice  of  Matthias), 
John  necessarily  excludes  Paul  from  the 
apostleship!  Upon  that,  "above  all,"  Renan 
rests  his  statement  that  "of  all  the  Jewish 
Christians"  John  was  "most  hostile  to  Paul." 
A  better  example  of  the  shallowness  of  so 
much  of  the  vaunted  "criticism,"  need  not 
be  desired.  Other  rationalistic  writers  note 
the  passage  now  under  view  as  proof  that 
John  cannot  have  been  the  author  of  the 
Apocalypse,  since  "thus  to  style  himself  a 
foundation  would  be  inconsistent  with  apos- 
tolic modesty" — (the  Speaker's  Commentary, 
which  names  Liicke,  Ewald,  and  Bleek,  as 
making  this  objection).  To  all  which  it  is 
sufficient  to  reply:  (1)  That  the  idea  of  a 
hostile  collision  between  certain  of  the  apo.s- 
tles,  especially  of  Paul  and  John,  is  a  pure 
fiction.  How  unsupported  it  is  inaj'  be  in- 
ferred from  the  fact  that  the  chief  point  of 
proof,  so  far  as  R^nan  is  concerned,  at  any 
rate,  is  the  passage  now  considered ;  (2)  that 
there  is  no  evidence  of  a  question  ever  arising 
amongst  the  apostles  as  to  whether  ^Matthias 
should  be  regarded  as  completing  the  number 
twelve,  or  whether  Paul  should  be  admitted 
to  the  apostolic  circle,  either  by  supplanting 
Matthias,  or  by  making  up  the  whole  number 
to  thirteen.  Paul  names  him.self  "the  apos- 
tle of  the  Gentiles"  (Rom. ii:  m),  and  .seems  to 
have  been  strenuous  only  that  in  this  office 
he  should  be  regarded  as  having  furnislied 
"  the  signs  of  an  apo.stle,"  so  that  his  authority 
among  the  Gentile  churches  might  not  suffer. 
(3)  There  is  here,  especially,  no  possibility  of 


294 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XXI. 


15  And  he  that  talked  with  me  "  had  a  golden  reed 
to  measure  the  city,  and  the  gates  thereof,  and  the  wall 
thereof.  . 

lU  And  the  city  lieth  foursquare,  and  the  length  is  as 
large  as  the  breadth:  and  he  measured  the  city  with 
the  reed,  twelve  thousand  lurlongs.  The  length  and 
the  breadth  and  the  height  of  it  are  equal. 


15  apostles  of  the  Lamb.  And  he  that  spake  with  me 
had  for  a  measure  a  golden  reed  to  measure  the  city, 

16  and  the  ' gates  thereof,  and  the  wall  thereof.  And 
the  city  lieth  foursquare,  and  the  length  thereof  is 
as  great  as  the  breadth:  and  he  measured  the  city 
with  the  reed,  twelve  thousand  furlongs:  the  length 
and  the  breadth  and  the  height  thereof  are  equal. 


lEzek.  40:3;  Zech.  2:2;  cli.  11:1. Gi: portals. 


a  question  like  this  arising.  What  we  have 
is  the  description  of  a  city  seen  in  vision. 
Three  features  of  it  have,  so  far,  been  named 
—the  wall,  the  gates,  the  foundation.  Of  the 
wall,  we  have  already  spoken  suflBciently. 
The  gates  are  said  to  be  twelve,  named  for  the 
twelve  tribes  of  Israel;  the  foundations 
twelve— "  probably,"  says  Alford,  "each 
portit)n  of  the  wall  joining  two  gates  had  a 
conspicuous  basement,  of  one  vast  stone" — 
and  upon  these  "the  names  of  the  twelve 
apostles  of  the  Lamb."  The  twelve  gates, 
with  the  names  of  the  tribes  inscribed  on 
them,  represent  the  church  as  the  true  Israel ; 
the  twelve  foundation  stones  represent  that 
foundation  upon  which  the  church  is  built; 
"the  twelve  apostles  of  the  Lamb,"  in  whom 
and  by  whom  that  truth  is  revealed  on  which 
the  whole  structure  stands;  "Jesus  Christ 
himself"  being  "the  chief  corner-stone" 
(E|.h.2:  20).  "The  symbolical  character  of  the 
whole  description,"  in  the  words  of  the 
Spenkei-'s  Commentary,  "sets  aside  all  refer- 
ence to  individuals,  and  lies  apart  from  every 
conclusion  based  upon  the  meaning  of  the 
words  taken  literally";  (4)  the  attribution  to 
John,  in  such  a  case,  of  a  purpose  to  exclude 
Paul  in  a  spirit  of  personal  hostility  from 
the  number  of  the  twelve,  is  therefore  gratu- 
itous to  the  very  verge  of  absurdity;  while 
to  found  upon  the  fact  that  he  was  himself  an 
apostle,  a  difficulty  as  to  John's  authorship 
of  the  book,  is  equally  trivial.  John  simply 
describes,  as  in  other  cases,  what  came  before 
him  in  the  vision. 

15.  And  he  that  talked  with  me  had  a 
golden  reed  to  measure  the  city,  and  the 
gates  thereof,  and  the  wall  thereof.  In 
this  and  the  immediately  following  verses  we 
have  again  a  passage  very  difficult  of  ex- 
planation. It  is  importiint  as  a  first  point  in 
the  exposition  to  rightly  conceive  the  ])urpose 
of  the  measuring.  W<!  have  before  had  this 
act  of  measuring,  in  the  case  of  the  temple, 
mentioned  ch.  11  :  1.  In  that  case,  w*;  inter- 
preted the  act  of  measuring  as  .symbolical  of 


protection.  The  conditions  are  all  different 
in  the  present  case  from  what  we  found  in 
the  former  one,  and  the  symbolism  must 
therefore  differ.  The  purpose,  here,  is  simply 
to  describe  "the  holy  city  Jerusalem,"  as 
seen  in  the  vision,  and  to  convey,  in  terms  of 
human  language  and  in  imagery  drawn  from 
the  facts  of  earthly  life,  some  idea  of  that 
glorious  and  happy  condition  of  the  finally 
saved,  of  which  the  city  itself  is  a  symbol. 
In  no  place  throughout  the  whole  book  could 
a  realistic  interpretation  be  more  entirely 
unsuitable  and  misleading  than  here.  Much 
of  the  difficulty  of  the  passage,  besides,  re- 
sults from  a  leaning  to  such  realism  in  ex- 
positions proposed.  We  will,  on  our  own 
part,  notice  first  the  several  details  of  the 
description. 

16.  And  the  city  lieth  foursquare,  and 
the  length  is  as  large  as  the  breadth. 
The  measurement  of  the  city  in  Ezekiel 
(4S:  30-35},  rcvcals  a  like  proportion  there.  In 
our  English  manner  of  speech,  the  clause, 
"and  the  length  is  as  great  as  the  breadth," 
would  be  tautology,  since  that  is  of  course 
true  of  any  "  four-square  "  figure.  The  Greek 
word  (TeTpdywi-os),  translated  "four-square," 
means,  literally,  "four-sided,"  or,  having 
"four  angles";  the  following  clause,  there- 
fore, is  in  a  measure,  epexegetical  and  ex- 
planatory.— And  he  measured  the  city 
with  the  reed,  twelve  thousand  furlongs. 
"Twelve  thousand  stadia'^  would  be  more 
exact.  The  stadium  was  one-eighth  of  a 
Roman  mile,  and  in  that  sense  only  would  be 
properly  represented  by  the  word  "furlong." 
— The  length  and  the  breadth  and  the 
height  of  it  are  equal.  Does  this  mean  that 
each  side  of  the  city  was  twelve  thousand  fur- 
longs, and  the  height  the  same?  It  should 
be  notic(;d  that  it  is  said  in  the  words  next 
before  quoted,  "and  he  measured  the  city 
with  the  reed,  twelve  thousand  furlongs." 
The  most  natural  construction  is  that  the 
entire  circuit  of  the  city  had  this  extent,  which 
would  give  three  thousand  furlongs,  or  three 


Ch.  XXL] 


REVELATION. 


295 


17  And  he  measured  the  wall  thereof,  a  hundred 
and  forty  and  four  cubits,  according  to  the  measure  of  a 
uian,  that  is,  of  the  angel. 

18  And  the  building  of  the  wall  of  it  was  o/ jasper: 
and  the  city  wan  pure  gold,  like  unto  clear  glass. 


17  And  he  measured  the  wall  thereof,  a  hundred  and 
forty  and  four  cubits,  avcordhuj  to  the  nie;u-jure  of  a 

18  man,  that  is,  of  an  angel.     And  the  building  of  the 
wall  thereof  was  jasper:  and  the  city  was  pure  gold. 


hundred  and  seventy-five  miles,  to  each  side. 
This  is  the  view  of  Stuart,  Alford,  De  Wette, 
and  others.  The  statement  that  the  length, 
breadth,  and  height  were  equal,  involves  a 
difficulty.  That  the  city  should  be  three  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  miles  square  is  conceiv- 
able. That  it  should  be  the  same  in  height 
seems  well-nigh  impossible,  according  to  every 
reali.sticviev/of  thecase.  "  Everything  shows, 
however,''  as  Stuart  most  properly  says,  "that 
all  literal  exegesis  in  such  a  case  as  the  pres- 
ent, excepting  merely  so  far  as  to  get  a  proper 
idea  of  the  grandeur  and  the  eongruity  of  the 
imagery,  is  entirely  out  of  question.  .  .  .  We 
are  relieved  by  calling  to  mind  that  all  is 
symbol."  As  regards  the  vast  extent  of  the 
city,  apart  from  its  height,  the  same  writer 
notes  "that  subsequent  parts  of  the  descrip- 
tion bring  to  view  country  as  well  as  city." 
17.  And  he  measured  the  wall  thereof, 
a  hundred  and  forty  and  four  cubits, 
according  to  the  measure  of  a  man,  that 
is,  of  the  angel.  "Themeasure  of  a  man  " 
means  human  measure;  or  suc^h  as  men  em- 
ploy. The  revision  reads,  "of  a  man,  that  is, 
of  an  angel."  Some  commentators,  accept- 
ing this  rendering,  refer  to  the  passage  in 
Luke  20:  36,  as  a  parallel  one,  where  we  read 
of  redeemed  men,  that  they  shall  be  "equal 
unto  the  angels  ";  and  "reckon  and  measure 
all  things  by  a  spiritual  and  divine  arithmetic, 
and  by  a  heavenly  and  angelic  mensuration." 
This  is  Wordsworth's  comment.  Stuart's  is 
far  more  likely  to  be  correct.  "It  is  an  angel," 
he  says,  "who  makes  the  ineasurement;  and 
lest  we  might  think  it  was  a  larger,  or  at  any 
rate  a  different,  measure  from  that  in  ordi- 
nary use  {avOpiairov,  of  a  man),  the  writer  ex- 
pressly guards  us  against  such  an  error."  He 
takes  the  concluding  words  of  the  verse  in  the 
Greek  (6  i<TTi.v  ayy4\ov,  that  is,  of  an  angel),  as 
equivalent  to  that  is,  the  measure  of  an  ang  I 
(o  fiTTLv  fidrpov  ayye\ov),  and  accordingly  tran.s- 
late.s,  "which  is  that  ^or  the  measure]  of  the 
angel."  The  height  of  the  wall,  one  hundred 
and  fortj'-four  cubits,  gives  us  two  hundred 
and  sixteen  feet.  Now,  if  we  apply  ourselves 
to  gain  from  these  details  some  di.stinct  con- 
ception of  what  they  import,  we  must  begin 


by  recalling  the  fact  that  John  is  here  pre- 
senting to  us,  under  imagery  takeiv  from 
earthly  things  and  man's  earthlj^  life,  a  pic- 
ture of  the  heavenly  state  as  it  shall  finally 
be.  Two  main  conceptions  evidently  appear 
in  it — that  of  a  city,  with  Jerusalem  as  the 
type,  and  that  of  a  garden,  a  paradise,  with 
Eden  as  the  tj'pe.  This  latter  will  come  dis- 
tinctly in  view  in  subsequent  expositions, 
Stuart  expresses  it  b^'  saying  that  the  descrip- 
tion embraces  "country  as  well  as cit^*."  This, 
then,  which  we  have  before  us  is  the  home  of 
that  "great  multitude"  of  the  redeemed,  as  it 
shall  be  in  "  the  new  heaven  and  new  earth." 
Bearing  this  in  mind,  and  remembering  that 
the  whole  scene  is  pictorial,  we  see  a  manifest 
reason  for  the  extent  implied  in  the  measure- 
ment noted  above.  Various  jittempts  have 
been  made  to  explain  the  height  of  the  city, 
so  as  to  relieve  the  description  in  this  particu- 
lar of  its  difficulties.  Lutiiardt,  as  quoted  in 
the  Speaker's  Commentary,  "supposes  a  city 
situated  on  a  lofty  mountain,  with  its  houses 
in  terraces  around  the  mountain  sides.  The 
city  would  thus  appear  as  a  pyramid."  Al  ford's 
view  is  similar — that  the  height  of  the  city 
included  the  rock,  or  hill,  on  which  it  was 
placed,  "thus  recalling  somewhat  the  form 
of  the  earthly  Jeru.«alem  on  its  escarpment 
above  the  valley  of  the  Kedron."  We  pre- 
fer this  to  Stuart's  suggestion  that  "in  the 
mind  of  the  seer  it  [the  city]  was  regarded  as 
containing  mansions  all  of  one  height,  and 
which,  from  the  loftiness  of  this  height,  were 
fitted  to  hold  almost  countless  myriads  of 
inhabitants."  If  one  considers  what,  from 
the  measurements  given,  this  height  mu.st  be, 
the  extreme  difficulty  of  the  conception  will 
at  once  appear.  The  tremendous  contra.st, 
too,  between  the  height  of  the  buildings  and 
the  height  of  the  wall,  almost  ju.stifies  Alford's 
characterization  of  this  view  as  "too  absurd 
to  come  at  all  into  question."  For  some  sug- 
gestions as  to  the  symbolical  significance  of 
this  whole  passage — an  element  in  the  entire 
case  of  great  im])ortance — we  refer  the  reader 
to  the  General  Comments  at  the  close  of  the 
chapter. 
18  And  the  building  of  the  wall  of  it 


296 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XXI. 


19  "And  the  foundations  of  the  wall  of  the  city  were 
garnished  with  all  manner  of  precious  stones.  The 
tirst  foundation  icK.s  jasper ;  the  second,  sapphire ;  the 
third,  a  chalcedony;  the  fourth,  an  emerald; 

2c)  The  fifth,  sardonyx;  the  sixth,  sardius;  the 
seventh,  chrysolyte;  tlie  eighth,  heryl ;  the  ninth,  a 
topaz;  the  tenth,  a  chrysoprasus ;  the  eleventh,  a 
jacintii;  the  twellth,  an  amethyst. 

21  And  the  twelve  gates  were  twelve  pearls;  every 
several  gate  was  of  one  pearl:  'and  the  street  of  the 
city  xviis  pure  gold,  as  it  were  transparent  glass. 

22  ■'And  1  saw  no  temple  therein  :  for  tlie  Lord  God 
Almighty  and  the  Lamh  are  the  temple  of  it. 


19  like  unto  pure  glass.  The  foundations  of  the  wall 
of  the  city  were  adorned  with  all  manner  of  precious 
stones.    The  first  foundation  was  jasper;  the  second, 

20isapphire;  the  third,  chalcedony;  the  fourth,  em- 
erald; the  fifth,  sardonyx;  the  sixth,  sardius;  the 
seventh,  chrysolite;  the  eighth,  beryl;  the  ninth, 
topaz;   the  tenth,  chrysoprase;    tlie  eleventh,   -]a.- 

22  cinth  ;  the  twellth,  amethyst.  And  the  twelve  agates 
were  twelve  pearls;  each  one  of  the  several  sgates 
was  of  one  pearl :   and  the  street  of  the  city  was  pure 

22  gold, -las  it  were  transparent  glass.  And  I  saw  uo 
temple  therein:  for  the  Lord  God  the  Almighty,  and 


a  Isa.  54 :  11. . .  .6  ch.  22  :  2. . .  .c  John  4 : 


-1  Or,  lapis  lazuli 2  Or,  sapphire. . .  .3  Gr. portals 4  Or,  transparent  as  gla 


was  of  jasper;  and  the  city  was  pure 
gold,  like  unto  clear  glass.  The  word 
here  transhited  "building"  {iv&MixTi\(i <.<;),  is  a 
very  rare  one,  found,  indeed,  only  in  one 
place  in  Josephus  (4n(.  i5: 9.6),  where  the 
meaning  seems  to  be,  not  "building,"  but 
"materials."  Stuart  understands  by  it,  in 
this  place,  "superstructure";  that  is,  so 
much  of  the  wall  as  was  above  the  founda- 
tion. It  is  clear,  at  all  events,  that  a  dis- 
tinction is  made  between  this  "building" 
and  the  "foundations"  mentioned  in  the 
verses  which  follow.  To  represent  the 
Bplendor  of  the  city  itself,  it  is  here  described 
as  "of  pure  gold,  like  unto  clear  glass," 
which  must  be,  as  Alford  expresses  it, "ideal 
gold,  transparent,  such  as  no  gold  is  here, 
but  sur])assing  it  in  si)lendor." 

19,20.  And  the  foundations  of  the  wall 
©f  the  city  were  garnished  [ndorned']  with 
all  manner  of  precious  stones.  More 
literally,  ''''with  every  precious  sto7ie.^'  The 
more  particular  statement  next  following,  in 
some  measure,  ex])lains  this.  —  The  first 
foundation  was  jasper;  the  second,  sap- 
phire ;  the  third,  a  chalcedony;  the 
fourth,  an  emerald  ;  the  fifth,  sardonyx  ; 
the  sixth,  sardius;  the  seventh,  chryso- 
lite;  the  eighth,  beryl;  the  ninth,  a 
topaz;  the  tenth,  a  chrysoprasus;  the 
eleventh,  a  jacinth  ;  the  twelfth,  an  ame- 
thyst. The  passage  in  Isa.  54:  11,  12,  may  he 
noticed  in  this  connection  :  "O  thou  afflicted, 
tossed  witii  tempest,  and  not  comforted,  be- 
hold, I  will  lay  thy  stones  with  fair  colors, 
and  lay  tiiy  foundations  with  sapphires.  And 
1  will  make  thy  windows  agates,  and  thy 
gates  of  carbunc^les  [lit.,  "sparkling  gems"], 
and  all  thy  borders  [better,  ''thy  whole  ci)'- 
cwi^"]  of  pleasant  stones."  The  numbering, 
in  our  present  passage,  of  the  several  founda- 
tions— "first,"  "second,"  "third,"  etc. —  re- 
fers,   doubtless,    to    the    spaces    between    the 


gates.  The  foundation,  in  each  of  these  in- 
tervals, is  represented  as  composed  of  a  single 
vast  stone,  "precious"  as  described. 

21.  And  the  twelve  gates  were  twelve 
pearls;  every  several  gate  was  of  one 
pearl ;  and  the  street  of  the  city  was 
pure  gold,  as  it  were  transparent  glass. 
The  mention  of  transparent  gold,  like  glass, 
reminds  us  of  ver.  18,  where  it  is  said  that 
"the  city"  was  "of  pure  gold,  like  unti) 
clear  glass."  The  word  in  Greek  for  street 
(wAaTeia)  mcaiis,  iiot  the  buildings,  but  the 
level  way,  doubtless  here  the  pavement.  It 
is  to  be  noticed  that  while  the  foundatit)ns  of 
the  city  have  the  variety  here  mentioned,  the 
gates  exhibit  an  equally  remarkable  same- 
ness. Each  of  them  is  a  pearl — a  thing  held 
in  human  estimation  as  most  precious,  which 
exhibits  no  such  variety  as  precious  stones  do, 
and  never  needs  embellishment  at  the  hand 
of  man.  Of  the  symbolism  implied  in  the 
precious  stones  of  the  city's  foundations,  and 
the  pearl  of  its  gates,  we  speak  in  the  General 
Comments  below.  , 

22.  And  I  saw  no  temple  therein  ;  for 
the  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb 
are  the  temple  of  it.  The  word  for  temple 
(vaos)  has  here  a  like  significance  with  that 
which  we  found  in  it  at  ch.  11 :  1.  The  allu- 
sion is  to  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  more 
especially  to  that  inner  sanctuary,  the  Holy 
Place  and  the  Holy  of  Holies.  What  we  are 
told  here  is  that  in  the  New  Jerusalem  there 
will  be  no  such  .sanctuary;  and  the  reason, 
that  "the  Lord  God  Almight3'  and  the  Lamb 
are  the  temple  of  it."  This  must  mean  that 
in  their  communion  with  God  and  the  Lamb, 
the  redeemed  of  the  new  heaven  and  new 
earth  will  need  no  such  interviedinries  as  are 
necessary  in  this  world  and  this  present  life, 
and  as  wt^re  especially  .so  in  the  times  of  the 
Old  Dispensation — neither  altar,  nor  victim; 
nor  i)riest,  incense,  or  sacred  fire;  nor  sprin- 


Ch.  XXL] 


EEVELATION. 


297 


23  "And  the  city  had  no  need  of  the  sun,  neither  of 
the  moon,  to  sliiue  in  it:  lor  the  glory  of  God  did 
lighten  it,  and  the  Laiub  i.s  the  light  lliereof. 

24  *An<l  the  nations  of  them  wliieh  are  saved  shall 
walk  in  th  ■  light  of  it :  and  the  kings  of  the  earth  do 
bring  tl  eir  4lory  and  honour  into  it. 

25  <:Aiid  ihe  gales  of  it  shall  not  be  shut  at  all  by 
day:  for  "there  shall  be  no  night  there. 

26  «And  they  shall  bring  the  glory  and  honour  of  the 
nations  into  it. 

27  And  /there  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  it  any 
thing  that  delileth,  neither  irhalsoevcr  worketh  abomi- 
nation, or  nuikfj/i  a  lie:  but  they  which  are  written  in 
the  Lamb's  s  book  of  life. 


23  the  Lamb,  are  the  temple  thereof.  And  the  city 
hath  no  need  of  the  sun,  neither  of  the  moon,  lo 
shine  upon  it:  for  the  glory  of  (iod  did  lighten  it, 

24  'and  the  lamp  thereof  i.v  the  Lamb.  And  Ihe  nations 
shall  walk  -amidst  the  light  there<jf:   and  the  kings 

25  of  the  earth  do  bring  their  glory  into  it.  .\nd  the 
■*gates  thereof  shall  in  no  wise  be  shut  by  day  (lor 

26  there  shall  be  no  night  there) :  and  they  shall  iiring 
the  glory  and  the  lionour  of  the  naliims   into   it: 

27  and  there  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  it  any  thing 
^unclean,  or  he  thaf'maketh  an  abomination  and  a 
lie:  but  only  they  who  are  written  in  the  Lamb's 


aver.  11:  Ism.  24:  2:{;  60    19,  20;  ch.  22-  5.... 6  Isi 
e  ver.  24 . . . ./ Isa.  35  :  »;  52  :  1 ;  Bil:  21;  Joel  3  :  17; 


60:  3,  5,  U:  66:  12....clsa.  60:  11.... d  la 

..  ,  Jh.  21:  U  :  15.....I7  Pliii.4:  3;    ch.  3  :  5  ;  13  :  H  ;  20:  12. 

the  lamp  thereo/.  ...i  Or,  by 3  Gr.  portals 4  Gr.  common 5  Or,  doeth. 


:2n;  Zech.  14  :  7  :  ch..22  :5.... 
r,  and  the  Lamb, 


kled  blood.  These  were  types,  and  in  the 
New  Jerusalem  all  will  have  reached  their 
fulfillment;  they  were  provisions  for  a  state 
in  which  all  things  are  seen  "as  through  a 
glass,  darkly"  ;  in  that  perfect  life  which  the 
redeemed  live,  they  see  "face  to  face." 

23.  And  the  city  had  [hath]  no  need  of 
the  sun,  neither  of  the  moon,  to  shine  in 
it;  for  the  glory  of  God  did  lighten  it, 
and  the  Lamb  is  the  light  [lamp]  thereof. 
In  Hebrews  (i:  3),  we  read  that  the  iSon  is  "the 
brightness"  [^^ effulgence,"  Revised  Version] 
of  the  Father's  "glory."  Some  commenta- 
tors, like  Grotius  and  Ewald,  put  an  unjusti- 
fiably forced  construction  upon  what  is  said 
in  this  verse,  when  they  explain  it  as  meaning 
that  "the  glory  of  God"  is  the  sun,  and  "the 
Lamb"  the  moon.  The  verse  presents  a  sin- 
gle and  simple  truth — that  the  conditions  of 
redeemed  life  will  be  so  changed  that  the 
light  of  sun  or  moon  will  no  longer  be 
needed ;  the  immediate  presence  of  God  ir- 
radiates the  city  of  their  abode,  as  now  it 
irradiates  heaven.  It  seems  to  be  implied, 
however,  that  the  personal  manifestation  of 
God  in  the  midst  of  the  redeemed  will  be  the 
Lamb.  "The  glory  of  God"  does  not  neces- 
sarily signify  that  God  the  Father  will  be 
thus  manifested,  but  only  that  "glory" 
which  indicates  his  peculiar  presence,  as  the 
Shekinah  of  old.  "The  Lamb,"  however, 
is  a  di.stinct  and  conceivable  personality,  and 
it  may  be  that  in  him  peculiarly  "the  bright- 
ness of"  the  Father's  "glory"  may  shine. 

24.  And  the  nations  of  them  which  are 
saved  shall  walk  in  the  light  of  it.  The 
best  Greek  te.\t  omits  "of  them  which  are 
saved,"  and  the  words  therefore  are,  in  a 
correct  tran.slation,  ''And  the  nations  shall 
walk  in  the  light  of  it."  "Shall  walk  by 
means  of  her  light,"  is  Alford's  translation.— 


And  the  kings  of  the  earth  do  bring  their 
glory  and  honour  into  it.  It  is  to  be  no- 
ticed that  the  tense  of  the  verb  is  the  present 
("honor,"  riM.r\v,  is  here  omitted  by  the  re- 
visers). Upon  this,  as  we  shall  see  directly, 
an  important  point  of  expt)sitit)n  is  made  to 
rest. 

25.  And  the  gates  of  it  shall  not  be 
shut  at  all  by  day:  for  there  shall  be  no 
night  there.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the 
revisers  have  included  the  second  jiart  of 
the  verse  in  parenthesis.  This  seems  to  be 
correct;  and  the  meaning  becomes,  accord- 
ingly, that  if  shut  at  all,  the  gates  tnust  be 
shut  by  day,  since  there  fs  no  night  there; 
but  as  they  are  not  shut  by  day,  they  stand 
ever  open. 

26.  And  they  shall  bring  the  glory  and 
honour  of  the  nations  into  it.  With  this 
seems  to  be  connected,  in  meaning,  that  which 
immediately  follows. 

27.  And  there  shall  in  no  wise  enter 
into  it  anything  that  defilcth  [auj/thing 
unclean],  neither  Avhatsoever  [or,  he  that] 
worketh  abomination,  or  maketh  a  lie 
[■tnaketh  an  abomination  and  a  lie] ;  but  [onli/] 
they  which  are  written  in  the  Lamb's 
book  of  life.  Alford's  comment  upon  the 
words,  "And  they  shall  bring  the  glory  and 
honor  [costliness,  he  translates],  "of  the 
nations  into  it,"  is:  "Among  the  mysteries  of 
this  new  heaven  and  new  earth,  this  is  set  forth 
to  us:  that,  besides  the  glorified  church,  there 
.shall  still  be  dwelling  on  the  renewed  earth 
nations,  organized  under  kings  [referring  to 
the  words  in  ver.  24,  'the  kings  of  the  earth,' 
etc.],  and  saved  by  means  of  the  influences 
of  the  heavenly  city."  His  final  comment, 
at  the  end  of  the  chapter,  is :  "  If  then  the 
kings  of  the  earth,  and  the  nations,  bring 
their  glory  and  their  treasures  into  her  [the 


^98 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XXI. 


city],  and  if  none  shall  enter  into  her  that  is 
not  written  in  the  book  of  life,  it  follows,  that 
these  kings,  and  these  nations,  are  written  in 
the  book  of  life.     And  so  perhaps  some  light 
may  be  thrown  on  one  of  the  darkest  mys- 
teries of  redemption.     There  may  be — I  say 
it  with  all   diffidence — those  who  have  been 
saved  by  Christ  without  even  forming  a  part 
of  his  visible  organized  church."     This  last 
we  may  believe  without  accepting  that  view 
of  this  passage  on  which  Alford  has  founded 
it.     "The  outlook  of  the  prophet,"  says  Car- 
penter, "is  from  the  loneliness  and  depression 
of  the  then  persecuted  and  despised  Church; 
but  in  the  vision  he  sees  her  beautiful  and 
enlarged  and  honored.     All  nations  and  peo- 
ples flock  within  the  walls;   it   is  the  echo  of 
the  ancient  prophecies.     'AH  kings  shall  fall 
down   before   him  ;    all   nations  shall   honor 
him.'  "     But  do  these  words  of  the  ancient 
prophecy  point  to  the  new  heaven  and  new 
earth,  and  to  the  holy  city,  there,  of  the  re- 
deemed?   Are  they  not  fulfilled,  rather,  in 
the  great  events  that  usher  in  and  attend  the 
millennium?     The  view  of  Alford  and  Car- 
penter, alike  seems  to  thrust  in  among  the 
symbolisms  of  the  glowing    picture   in   this 
chapter  realistic  fnterpretations  quite  out  of 
harmony  with  them.     Will  there  be  uncon- 
verted beings  and  nations  on  the  new  earth 
"saved   by   means  of  the  influences  of  the 
heavenly  city  "  ?    Are  not  "  all  things^'  made 
"new"?     Will  there  be  earthly  pomps  and 
grandeurs  brought  to  the  heavenly  city  by  i 
these  "kings"    when    thus    saved,  and   con- j 
tributed  to  the  enrichment  of  the  new  Jeru-  j 
saleni — the    foundation   of    whose   walls    are 
precious  stones,  whose  gates  are  pearls,  and 
the  streets   and  dwellings   pure   gold?     It  is 
clearly   impossible  to  mix  the  realistic  with 
the  symbolical   in  this  wa3'.     There  will    be 
saved    kings   in    the   heavenly  city,  without 
doubt — saved    as    others    were,  by   belief    in 
Christ.       There    will     be  "nations"    of    the 
saved,  gresit  nuiltitudes,  gathered  out  of  every 
people  and  tongue  and  tribe  under  the  whole 
heaven.     All  that  was  real  and  lasting  in  the 
glory  of  either  nations  or  kings  will  be  seen 
in  the  heavenly  city ;    for  there  are  attain- 
ments and  achievements  in  this  world  which 
belong,  in  their  highest  nature  and  results,  to 
eternity  as  well  as   to   time.     All  these  will 
enhance  the  beauty  and  glory  and  felicity  of 
the  heavenly  city.     It  will  not  be  alone  the 


glory  of  God  and  the  Lamb  which  shall 
make  heaven  and  the  city  of  the  Lord  what 
they  are  to  be.  Every  one  of  the  faithful  and 
the  saved  will  "bring"  his  own  tribute;  and 
those  "kings"  who  feared  God  and  wrought 
righteousness  will  also  bring  theirs.  And 
these  shall  not  be  marred  and  dishonored  by 
contact  with  the  "unclean,"  or  with  aught 
that  "maketh  an  abomination  and  a  lie."  The 
jeweled  splendors  of  the  city,  and  its  streets 
and  dwellings  of  translucent  gold,  symbolize 
its  purity  no  less  than  its  felicity.  For  only 
thus  could  that  gladdening  word  become  true, 
"The  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men." 

GENERAL   COMMENTS. 

We  observe  in  the  case  of  the  "hoi}'  city," 
described  in  this  chapter,  that  same  alterna- 
tion of  the  symbolism  of  a  woman  with  that 
of  a  city,  which  we  noted  in  the  case  of  Baby- 
lon. In  the  early  part  of  the  chapter  the 
angel  says  to  John:  "I  will  show  thee  the 
Bride,  the  wife  of  the  Lamb."  When  this 
vision  comes  to  be  seen  by  him,  it  is  "the  holy 
city  Jerusalem"  which  he  beholds.  This 
al'ternation  in  the  sj^mbolism  makes  it  the 
more  evident  that,  in  neither  case,  ought  any 
approach  to  realistic  interpretation  to  be  in- 
dulged. What  is  really  meant,  is  neither  a 
woman,  an  actual  bride,  nor  a  city,  a  material 
Jerusalem;  any  more  than  by  Bab^'lon  was 
meant  an  actual,  depraved  woman,  or  an 
actual,  wicked,  and  worldly  city.  The  point 
is,  perhaps,  well-nigh  self-evident,  j'et  it  is  .so 
important  that  it  needs  to  be  emphasized. 
What  the  chapter  describes  to  us  is  the 
church  of  the  saved — that  "general  assembly 
and  church  of  the  first-born,  whose  names  are 
written  in  heaven" — in  that  condition  of 
glory  and  felicity  which  has  been  promised 
to  it,  and  which  will,  in  "the  new  heaven  and 
the  new  earth,"  become  a  possession  forever. 
It  is  represented  in  the  imagery  of  this 
chapter,  now  as  "the  Bride,  the  Lamb's 
wife,"  and  now  as  a  beautiful  and  glorious 
city,  with  foundations  of  precious  .stone,  with 
gates  of  pearl,  and  wit!)  streets  and  dwellings 
of  tran.slucent  gold.  It  cannot  bt*,  literally, 
bot :  a  woman  and  a  city  ;  in  fact  it  is  neither, 
save  as  seen  in  a  vision.  The  fact  underneath 
all,  is  the  completely  achieved  redemption 
of  all  those  who  were  given  to  the  Son  by 
the  Father,  and  who,  in  :he  economies  and 
methods  of  grace,  are  finally  saved. 


Ch.  XXL] 


REVELATION. 


299 


It  is  with  the  symbolism  of  the  city,  that  we 
have  chiefly  to  deal  in  the  exposition  of  our 
present  chapter.  It  is  "the  holy  city  Jerusa- 
lem." In  other  words,  the  basis  of  the  imagery 
is  found  in  that  city  of  the  Lord's  chosen, 
in  ancient  times,  standing  on  its  steep  height 
above  the  valley  of  the  Kedron,  with  its 
walls,  and  palaces,  and  temple.  As  the 
angel  is  about  to  show  to  John  the  "new" 
Jerusalem,  he  takes  him,  we  are  told  (ver.  lo), 
"<o  a  great  and  high  mountain.'^  The  great- 
ness and  height  of  this  mount  of  vision  seems 
to  be  emphasized,  and  require  us  to  conceive 
of  the  seer  as  having,  in  the  vision,  an  out- 
look over  a  vast  extent,  while  from  his  own 
great  elevation,  what  is  said  of  the  height,  as 
well  as  what  is  said  of  the  great  length  and 
breadth  of  the  city,  becomes  more  possible  to 
our  imagination.  We  are,  perhaps,  justified 
in  viewing  the  situation  of  the  seer,  as  being 
like  that  of  an  observer  looking  upon  the 
actual  Jerusalem  from  the  Mount  of  Olives; 
only  it  is  a  case  where  the  smallness  of  the 
reality  on  which  the  imagery  rests,  is  to  the 
grandeur  of  the  imagery  itself,  almost  as  the 
infinitely  little  to  the  infinitely  vast. 

For  we  are  to"  remember  that  what  is  before 
John  in  the  vision,  represents  the  results  of 
redemption,  not  only  in  their  glory  and  their 
beauty  ;  but  also  in  their  vastness.  '■'Nations 
walk  in  the  light  of"  this  city.  It  is  the 
redeemed  "out  of  every  nation  and  people, 
and  tongue  under  the  whole  heaven,"  whose 
heavenly  state  is  exhibited  to  him  in  the 
imagery  employed.  If  there  be  any  propor- 
tions in  the  imagery  to  that  which  the  vision 
represents,  earthly  conceptions  as  to  the  great- 
ness of  cities— even  the  greatest— must  be 
dismissed,  and  we  must  try  to  bring  our  idea 
of  the  heavenly  to  some  approach,  at  least,  to 
that  which  the  heavenly  must  be.  An  earthly 
city  with  dimensions  such  as  are  here  de- 
scribed, is,  of  course,  an  impossibility;  but 
far  more  an  impossibility  is  it,  to  imagine  the 
"nations"  of  the  redeemed  all  gathered  in 
any  city  ever  yet  built  or  inhabited  by  men. 
The  chief  difficulties  in  the  chapter,  in  fact, 
arise  out  of  the  tendency  to  compare  heavenly 
things  with  earthly,  and  to  insist  that  the 
limitations  of  the  earthly  shall  rule  our  con- 
ceptions of  the  heavenly.  There  is,  in  fact, 
but  a  single  element  in  the  whole  description 
that  occasions  any  serious  difficulty.  This  is 
in   the    rei)rcsent:itinii    of    the    luight   of    the 


city.  This  difficulty  is  partly  met  in  the 
suggestion  quoted  from  Alford  and  from 
Luthardt,  that  we  may  supi)ose  "a  city  set  on 
a  hill" — fulfilling,  in  an  infinite  sense,  that 
saying  of  our  Lord  in  which  his  peiijile  are 
thus  described,  even  in  their  earthly  state. 
But  the  numbers  here  given  are,  we  must 
also  assume  and  remember,  themselves  sym- 
bolical. They  are  not  representative  of  exact 
measurements;  they  simply  present,  under 
the  image  of  such  measurements,  the  great 
spiritual  fact  that  the  redeemed  of  the  Lord 
are  a  countless  multitude.  Whatever  city 
should  be  their  abode,  would  rccpiire  to  be 
of  an  extent  far  surpassing  any  wiiich  men 
have  ever  imagined.  In  its  compass,  it  would 
be  like  a  great  emi)ire;  in  its  height,  towering 
upward  far  above  the  clouds.  The  distinc- 
tion of  the  heavenly  and  the  earthly  seems  to 
become  lost  in  such  a  conception,  and  the 
imagination  sees  angels  and  men  meeting 
upon  the  lofty  pinnacles  of  the  city,  as  if  it 
were  but  the  flight  of  a  moment  from  the 
abode  of  the  one  to  the  abode  of  the  other. 
Clearly,  we  must  dismiss  the  materialistic 
from  our  conception  of  what  this  wonderful 
picture  reveals  to  us,  and  tr3'  to  imagine,  in 
some  imperfect  way,  things  "which  eye  hath 
not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have  entered 
into  the  heart  of  man ;  but  God  hath  re- 
vealed them   unto  us  by  his  Spirit." 

What  we  have  said  applies  equally  to  the 
representation  given  of  the  city,  in  the  foun- 
dation of  its  wall,  its  gates,  and  the  gold  of 
its  streets  and  dwellings.  What  we  must  try 
to  reach  and  grasp,  is  the  truth  beneath  the 
imagery.  (1)  One  part  of  tliat  truth  is  the 
absolute  security  of  the  final  heavenl3'  state. 
Of  that  the  wall  itself  is  the  symbol.  (2) 
Another  is  the  realization  then,  of  that  which 
here  was  only  type,  and  promise,  and  pro- 
vision. The  description  given  comprehends, 
we  find,  both  Dispensations.  The  names  of 
the  tribes  enrolled  on  the  gates,  represent  that 
ancient  Israel,  in  whose  history,  whose  law, 
and  whose  worship  was  provided  such  a  rich 
array  of  types  of  better  things  to  come.  In  the 
names  of  the  twelve  apostles  of  the  Lamb,  en- 
rolled upon  the  several  foundations  between 
the  gates,  and  on  which  the  wall  .stood,  is 
represented  all  that  for  the  sake  of  which  the 
apostleship  itself  was  in.stituted— the  revealed 
method  of  redemption  on  which  our  .salva- 
tion stands.  The  very  absence  ofthe"  temple" 


300 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XXII. 


CHAPTEK   XXII. 

AND  he  shewed  me  »a  pure  river  of  water  of  life,  I    1  booli  of  life.    And  he  shewed  ine  a  river  of  water  of 
clear  as  crystal,  proceeding  out  of  the  throne  of         life,  bright  as  crystal,  proceeding  out  of  the  throne 
God  and  of  the  Lamb.  I       of  liod  and  of  '  the  Lamb,  in  the  midst  of  the  street 


a  Ezek.  47  :  1 ;  Zeoli.  14:  8. 1  Or,  the  Lamb.     In  the  midst  of  the  street  thereof,  and  on  either  side  of  the  river,  was  the  tree  of  life. 


is  indicative  of  the  same  thing  now  noticed. 
For  the  temple  in  ancient  times,  and  as  well 
the  organized  church  and  its  ordinances  and 
instrumentalities,  in  a  later  age,  were  indic- 
ative of  things  which  were,  in  their  form,  to 
"vanish  away,"  while  their  substance  should 
be  found  again  in  that  of  which  they  were 
the  types.  These  were  things  "in  part"; 
"when  that  which  is  perfect  is  come,  then 
that  which  is  in  part  shall  be  done  away." 
God's  covenant  of  grace  given  to  ancient 
Israel,  and  represented  in  our  vision  in  the 
names  of  the  tribes;  and  that  revealed  truth, 
committed  to  the  apostleship  for  final  revela- 
tion, in  which  this  covenant  took  form  as 
salvation  and  a  Saviour; — these  remain  for- 
ever. In  the  new  earth,  they  realize  to  the 
redeemed  all  that  which  in  the  old  earth  they 
had  promised.  But  temples,  and  altars,  and 
victims,  and  mediating  pinests,  and  even  the 
ministers  and  ordinances  of  the  later  and  truer 
sanctuary,  are  needed  no  more  in  a  state 
where  all  that  was  foreshadowed  by  these, 
and  provided  in  them,  is  realized  in  the  direct 
communion  of  the  redeemed  soul  with  the 
redeemhtg  God.  (3)  Another  thing  set  forth 
in  the  symbolisms  of  this  chapter,  is  the  per- 
feetloii  of  the  final  heavenly  state.  The  pearl 
of  the  gates,  the  precious  stones  of  the  foun- 
dation, the  gold  of  the  dwelling  and  the 
streets — if  the  earth  and  the  world  had  been 
ransacked  for  objects  which  might  supply 
imageries  of  an  absolute  perfection,  it  is  these, 
and  only  these,  which  we  can  imagine  as 
serving  that  purpose  in  the  very  highest 
degree.  Some  writers  instance  the  pearl  of 
the  gates  as  symbolizing  how  perfect,  in  itself 
and  alone,  is  that  way  of  entrance  "into  the 
city,"  which  is  "by  Jesus  Christ."  This 
may,  perhajjs,  not  be  an  overstrained  view. 
Certain  it  is,  that  as  the  pearl  is  always  one, 
and  never  mam/,  as  is  the  case  with  the  pre- 
cious .stone,  so  is  there  "none  other  name  given 
under  heaven  or  among  men  whereby  we 
must  be  .saved,"  but  this;  and  as  the  pearl 
shines  always  in  its  native  lustre,  and  never 
needs  nor  is  capable  of  any  embellishment 
at  the  hands  of  man,  so  are  we  saved,  only 


and  alone,  by  faith  in  the  Saviour.  (4)  Allied 
to  the  perfection  of  the  heavenly  state  is  its 
purity,  symbolized  al.so  in  the  fine  gold,  and 
the  undimmed  lustre  of  pearls  and  stones.  It 
is  yet  more  expressly  indicative  of  this  when 
we  are  told  how  all  that  is  unclean  and  false, 
even  the  very  shadow  and  semblance  of  it, 
never  enters,  nor  even  comes  near  to  this 
"holy  city."     These  shall  "iw  no  wise  enter 

into  it." 

Jerusalem,  the  glorious! 
The  glory  of  the  elect, 

0  dear  and  future  vision 
That  eager  hearts  expect; 

Ev'n  now  by  faith  I  see  thee, 

Ev'n  here  thy  walls  discern  ; 
To  thee  my  thoughts  are  kindled, 

And  strive,  and  pant,  and  yearn ! 

The  Cross  is  all  thy  splendor, 

The  Crucified,  thy  praise; 
His  laud  and  benediction 

Thy  ransomed  people  raise. 
Jerusalem!  exulting 

On  that  securest  shore, 

1  hope  thee,  wish  thee,  sing  thee, 
And  love  thee  evermore! 

O  sweet  and  blessed  Country ! 

Shall  I  e'er  see  thy  face? 
O  sweet  and  blessed  Country! 

Shall  I  e'er  win  thy  grace? 
Exult,  O  dust  and  ashes! 

The  Lord  shall  be  thy  part; 
His  onh',  his  forever, 

Thou  shalt  be,  and  thou  art ! — Bernard. 


PARADISE  RESTORED. 

1,2.  Thk  River  and  the  Tree  of  Life. 

1.  And  he  shewed  me  a  pure  river  o( 
water  of  life,  clear  as  crystal,  proceed- 
ing out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the 
Lamb.  There  is  a  question  of  pointing  as  to 
this,  together  with  the  following  verse.  Tisch- 
endorf  s  pointing  is  the  same  as  in  the  text 
used  in  our  old  version,  with  a  period  after 
the  word  "Lamb."  The  text  of  Westcott  and 
Hort  makes  no  pause  at  this  word,  but  places 
a  colon  at  (auT^t),  "it,"  connecting  with  the 
first  verse  the  opening  words  of  the  second. 
With  this  punctuation,  the  first  verse  will 
stand  thus:  And  he  showed  me  a  river  [omit 


Ch.  XXIL] 


REVELATION. 


301 


"pure"]  of  water  of  life,  clear  ["bright," 
"brightly  shining,"  is  better]  as  crystai,pro- 
ceeding  out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the 
Lamb,  in  the  midst  of  tJie  street  of  it;  that  is, 
the  street  of  the  city.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
pointing  of  the  revisers,  above,  is  the  same  as 
tliis,  with  the  exception  that  where  the  Greek 
has  a  colon,  the  revision  has  a  period.  The  gen- 
eral sense  of  the  passage  does  not  seem  to  be 
atfected  by  the  ditferenee  in  punctuation  last 
mentioned;  save  that  in  the  text  of  Westcott 
and  Hort,  the  meaning  is,  perhaps,  more 
clear.  What  John  saw  '/vas,  evidently,  a 
brightly  shining  river  flowing  through  the 
midst  of  the  street  —  the  "broad  street" 
{itKoLTela.)  of  the  city.  This  "broad  .street"  of 
the  city  is  in  harmony  with  what  is  so  usual 
in  Oriental  cities,  and  was  no  less  so  in  ancient 
ones — the  wide  street  running  through  the 
midst,  the  centre  of  city  life  and  city  traffic. 
The  "river"  recalls  what  is  written  of  the 
original  paradise,  man's  first  home — how  "a 
river  went  out  of  Eden  to  water  the  garden, 
and  from  thence" — from  the  point  where  it 
left  the  garden,  after  traversing  it  from  side 
to  side,  apparently — "it  was  parted,  and  be- 
came four  heads"  (Gen.2:io).  As  we  connect 
what  is  here  said  with  what  is  mentioned  in 
21 :  23  of  the  city  there  described — "the  glory 
of  God  did  lighten  it," — we  are  reminded  of 
these  words  in  Psalm  36:  7-9: 
How  precious  is  thy  loving-kindness,  O  God ; 
And  the  sons  of  man  may  trust  in  the  shadow  of  thy 

wings. 
They  shall  be  fully  satisfied  with  the  abundance  of  thy 

house : 
And  thou   wilt  make  them  drink  of  the  river  of  thy 

pleasures. 
For  with  ffiee  is  /he  fountain  of  life  : 
In  thy  light  shall  we  see  light. 

[ConanCs  Translation. 

Such  experiences,  in  the  measure  possible, 
are  granted  to  the  Lord's  redeemed  p?ople 
even. now;  the  fullness  of  what  is  implied  in 
this  and  in  our  own  present  text,  however, 
comes  only  when  God  has  "made  all  things 
new."  When  it  is  said  in  our  passage  that  the 
river  of  the  water  of  life  proceeds  "out  of 
the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb,"  the 
general  meaning  '.s  the  same  as  in  the  words 
of  David  just  quoted:  "With  thee  is  the 
fountain  of  life."  The  mention  of  the 
"throne"  may  have  some  reference  to  that 
sovereign  good  pleasure  of  God,  according  to 
which  the  grace  of  salvation,   present    and 


final,  is  dispensed ;  perhaps,  also,  to  the  fact 
that  it  is  from  him  whose  power  and  will  are 
supreme  in  the  universe,  that  the  eternal  life 
of  the  redeemed  flows  to  them.  There  is 
special  significance  in  the  mention  in  unison 
of  "God  and  the  Lamb."  In  the  Gospel,  by 
this  same  apostle,  this  is  a  constant  feature — 
the  association  of  Father  and  Hon,  alike  in 
the  works  of  mercy  wrought  hy  the  hater  in 
his  earthly  mi.ssion,  and  in  that  infinitely 
greater  work  of  redeniption.  A  like  asso- 
ciation is  seen  here,  as  also  where  in  the  pre- 
vious chapter  it  is  said  that  the  liiht  of  the 
city  is  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  Lamb  its 
lamp,  while  the  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the 
Lamb  are  the  temple  of  it.  We  find  it  char- 
acteristic of  this  apostle  that  he  thus  associates 
these  Divine  Persons  in  all  that  concerns  the 
redeemed  people,  whether  in  the  eflectua- 
tion  or  in  the  consummation  of  the  redeeming 
work.  That  the  river  is  a  "river  of  life," 
declares  its  symbolism.  In  the  rich  grouping 
of  imagery  found  in  the  whole  description, 
the  river  alike  suggests  the  source,  the  full- 
ness, and  the  exhaustlessness  of  that  eternal 
"life"  which  comprehends  all  the  elements 
of  final  and  perfect  blessedness.  No  more  ex- 
pressive symbol  of  this  could  be  imagined 
than  that  of  the  flowing  river,  its  limpid 
waters  ever  brightly  shining,  its  source 
exhaustless,  and  its  stream  ever  full, 
while  along  its  banks  blooms  and  verdures 
abound.— And  on  either  side  of  the  river 
was  there  the  tree  of  life.  "On  this  side 
of  the  river  and  on  that"  (imevBev  Ka.\  eKcietv). 
Lange  renders  the  Greek  word  for  "tree" 
with  the  German  word  Geholz,  "wood,"  and 
adds  this  comment:  "A  collection  of  trees, 
having  the  common  character  of  trees  of 
life"  ;  with  the  note  of  Diisterdieck  quoted, 
that  the  word  "generically  denotes  the  entire 
mass  of  trees."  In  English,  the  word 
"wood'"  is  often  used  in  this  way.  Whether, 
however,  the  Greek  (fwAor)  has  this  meaning, 
is  more  than  doubtful.  The  original  meaning 
of  the  word  is  the  wood  made  from  a  tree ; 
but  in  New  Testament  Greek  it  seems  to  be 
used  as  a  synonym  of  the  ordinary'  word  for 
"a  tree"  (SevSpov).  The  writers  just  named 
were  perhaps  influenced  in  this  render- 
ing by  a  wish  to  represent,  what  is  evi- 
dently correct,  many  trees  instead  of  one; 
the  picture  being  that  of  a  river  bordered 
with  trees  on  either  side      Our  word  "tree," 


302 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XXII. 


2  "In  the  midst  of  the  street  of  it,  and  on  either  side 
of  the  river,  was  there  'the  tree  of  life,  which  bare 
twelve  in/iiiiti'r  of  fruits,  and  yielded  her  fruit  every 
month:  and  the  leaves  of  the  tree  were  "for  the  healing 
of  the  nations. 


2  thereof.  And  on  this  side  of  the  river  and  on  that 
was  Mhe  tree  of  life,  bearing  twelve  -manner  oj 
fruits,  yielding  its  fruit  every  month :  and  the  leaves 


a  Ezek.  47:  12;  ch.  21 :  21 &  Gen.  2:  9;  ch.  2:  7 cch.  21:  24. 1  Or.  a  tret 2  Or.  crops  of  fruit. 


however,  is  often  used  in  this  way,  the  inten- 
tion being  to  indicate,  not  the  fact  of  a  single 
tree,  but  t  .at  the  trees,  however  numerous,  are 
all  of  one  kind — oak,  maple,  pine,  or  whatever 
else.  So  here ;  the  trees  bordering  the  river 
"on  this  side  and  that,"  were  trees,  or  "the 
tree,"  of  life. — Which  bare  twelve  manner 
of  fruits.  The  revision  toUows  the  old  ver- 
sion in  supplying  the  words  "'manner  of," 
which  are  not  in  the  Greek.  Literally,  the 
rendering  is,  "bearing  twelve  fruits.  The 
Speaker's  Commentary  prefers  to  translate, 
"  twelve  crops  of  fruit"  :  it  quotes  Burger  as 
rendering,  "a  twelve-fold  harvest  of  fruits," 
which  is  rather  a  paraphrase  than  a  transla- 
tion. Stuart  renders,  "producing  twelve 
fruit-harvests"  ;  giving  to  the  Greek  (/capTrou?) 
this  meaning  of  "fruit-harvests,"  which  is  a 
not  unusual  one.  This  seems,  at  all  events, 
the  idea  implied,  as  the  following  words  will 
show.— And  yielded  her  [its]  fruit  every 
month.  Thus,  there  would  be,  as  Stuart 
argues,  twelve  fruit-gatherings  every  year. 
"It  is,"  he  says,  "the  abundance  of  the  har- 
vests, not  the  variety  of  the  fruit,  which  the 
writer  aims  to  describe."  The  passage  in 
Ezekiel  (*"!■■  7,9),  may  be  read  with  profit  in  this 
connection:  "Now  when  I  returned,  behold, 
at  the  banks  of  the  river  were  very  many 

trees,  on  the  one  side  and  on  the  other 

And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  everything 
that  liveth,  which  moveth,  whithersoever  the 
waters  shall  come,  shall  live."  In  ver.  12  of 
the  same  chapter,  we  read  of  these  trees  that 
their  "leaf  shall  not  fade,  neither  shall  the 
fruit  thereof  be  consumed;  it  shall  bring 
forth  new  fruit  according  to  his  months,  be- 
cause their  waters  they  issued  out  of  the 
sanctuary;  and  the  fruit  thereof  shall  be  for 
meat,  and  the  leaf  thereof  for  medicine." 
Like  this  last,  are  the  words  in  our  present 
text — and  the  leaves  of  the  tree  were  for 
the  healing  oi  the  nations.  Stuart  seems 
to  hold  the  same  view  as  Alford  with  refer- 
ence to  the  "nations"  here  mentioned.  "The 
distant  nations,"  he  say.«,  "may  derive  heal- 
ing and  life- preserving  virtue  from  the 
leaves  of  the  trees,  carried  abroad  and  dis- 


tributed among  them."  He  refers  to  ch.  21: 
24-26 — Alford's  comments  upon  which  we 
have  already  noticed — and  then  adds:  "where 
nations  living  at  a  distance  are  included  in 
the  new  world."  Bengel,  in  his  comments 
upon  the  same  passage,  says:  "This  might 
throw  some  light  on  the  question,  how  it  shall 
fare  in  eternity  with  the  heathen,  who  have 
not  received  the  gospel."  Hengstenberg 
thinks  that  this  "is  to  be  entirely  rejected." 
He  adds:  "No  intermediate  state  is  to  be 
thought  of  as  possible,  where  all  the  circum- 
.stances  are  of  a  fixed  character,  and  no  room 
is  left  for  change.  We  can  the  less  conceive 
of  a  dwelling  of  the  heathen  outside  of  Jeru- 
salem, since  it  is  without  this  that  the  tree 
of  life  stands."  The  note  in  the  Speaker's 
Commentary  is:  "The  sense  is  clearly  that 
the  healing  virtues  of  the  tree  of  life  supply 
the  remedy  for  that  sickness  of  the  soul  which 
troubled  the  "nations"  during  their  earthly 
existence,  but  to  which  they  shall  no  more  be 
subject  in  the  City  of  God."  Alford's  view 
is  shared  by  De  Wette,  Ziillig,  and  Ewald. 
Kenan's  characteristic  comment  is:  "Accord- 
ing to  the  author  [of  the  Apocal3'pse,  ^ par 
excellence  the  book  of  Jewish  pride,'  accord- 
ing to  him]  the  distinction  between  the  Jews 
and  the  Pagans  will  continue  in  the  kingdom 
of  God.  While  the  Twelve  Tribes  eat  of  the 
fruits  of  the  tree  of  life,  the  Gentiles  must 
content  themselves  with  a  medical  decocticm 
of  its  leaves."  He  speaks  of  the  words,  "  for 
the  healing  of  the  nations,"  as  ^^  trait  iron- 
ique,^^  an  ironical  turn  of  the  phrase.  Re- 
nan's  frequent  unintentional  reductio  ad 
absurdiim  might  be  a  just  cause  of  complaint 
for  advocates  of  the  "higher  criticism." 
There  is  much  of  importance  in  Hengsten- 
berg's  reminder  that  in  what  these  two  la.«t 
chapters  of  our  book  describe,  "all  the  cir- 
cumstances are  of  a  fixed  character,  and  no 
room  is  left  for  change."  The  first  eight 
verses  of  the  chapter  preceding  the  present 
one  are  pervaded  by  this  idea.  "  Tlie  former 
things  are  passed  away";  "Behold,  I  make 
all  things  new";  " //e  that  overcomeih" — 
overcometh  now — "shall  inherit  all  tilings"  ; 


Ch.  XXII.] 


REVELATION. 


303 


3  And  "  there  shall  be  no  more  curse :  '  but  the  throne 
of  (lOd  aud  of  the  Lamb  shall  be  in  it:  and  his  servants 
shall  serve  liiui : 

4  And  '■they  shall  see  his  face;  and  ^his  name  shall  be 
in  their  foreheads. 


3  of  the  tree  were  for  the  healing  of  the  nations.  And 
there  shall  be  i  no  curse  any  more:  and  the  throne 
of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  shall  be  therein  :  and  his 

4  servants  shall  serve  him ;    and  they  shall  see  his 


aZeoh.  14:  11 b  Ezek.  48:  35 c  Matt.  5:  8;  2  Cnr.  13  :  12  ;  1  John  3  :  2 dch.  3:  12;  14:  1. 1  Or,  no  mart,  any  thing  accurted. 


"  The  fearful,  and  unbelieving,  and  abomi- 
nable, and  murderers,  and  fornicator.s,  and  sor- 
cerers, and  idolaters,  and  all  liars,  shall  have 
their  part  in  the  lake  that  burnetii  with  fire 
and  brimstone,  which  is  the  second  death." 
At  the  end  of  chapter  twentieth  we  are  told, 
as  the  final  word  in  the  description  of  that 
awful  scene,  the  closing,  judgment-scene:  "If 
any  was  not  found  written  in  the  book  of 
life,  he  was  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire."  The 
passage  at  ver.  11  of  this  chapter  might  be 
quoted  to  a  like  effect,  did  not  its  connection, 
as  will  be  shown  in  the  proper  place  below, 
assign  it  diflTerently.  Yet  where,  amidst  all 
that  presents  itself  in  those  which  we  quote, 
can  room  be  found  for  even  the  possibility  of 
continued  offers  of  grace  in  the  new  heaven 
and  new  earth  ?  We  understand  by  the  tree  of 
life  simply  that  which  we  have  implied  in  the 
•word  "redemption."  It  is  that  same  tree 
of  whose  leaves  all  now  eat  who  believe  in 
the  Lord  Jesus,  and  being  "justified  by  faith," 
not  only  "have  peace  with  God,"  but  "re- 
joice in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God";  that 
"gloiy  of  God  "  of  which  we  are  told  in  this 
chapter.  If  it  be  allowable  to  make  any  dis- 
tinction between  "the  leaves"  and  "the 
fruit"  of  this  tree,  we  may  say  that  the 
"leaves"  had  healed  the  hurt  of  sin  in  all 
those  redeemed  ones  in  that  period  when  the 
gospel  was  preached  to  them  and  they  had 
believed;  while  the  "fruit"  is  that  heavenly 
food  which  gives  them  immortality  of  bless- 
edness. The  allusion  to  the  tree  of  life  in  the 
first  paradise  is  evident. 

3-5.  Security  and  Felicity. 

3.  And  there  shall  be  no  more  curse. 
The  marginal  translation  in  the  revision 
("thing  accursed")  represents  more  exactly 
the  force  of  the  Greek  word  {KaT6L9ciJ.a).  The 
clause  here  seems  to  present  much  the  same 
idea  as  that  which  we  have  in  ch.  21 :  27 : 
"And  there  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  it  [the 
city]  anything  unclean,  or  he  that  maketh 
abomination  and  a  lie."— But  [and]  the 
throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  shall  be 
in  it.  Hero  we  have  again  the  same  associa- 
tion of  divine  Person;  as  before.     Tiic  rei)re- 


sentation  in  all  these  places  appears  to  be  that 
the  personal  form  of  the  divine  manifestation 
will  be  that  of  the  Kedeemer.  He  reigns 
amidst  his  people  as  their  King,  in  the 
"glory"  of  the  Father,  and  in  that  glory 
which  he  had  vnth  the  Father  before  the 
world  was. — And  his  servants  shall  serve 
him.  The  "his"  and  "him,"  considered 
with  reference  to  the  plural  antecedent,  im- 
ply the  oneness  of  God  and  the  Lamb — the 
Father  and  the  Son  (John lO: so).  Upon  the 
words,  "his  servants  shall  servehim,"  Lange's 
translator.  Rev.  E.  R.  Craven,  has  a  singular 
note.  He  says:  "There  seems  to  be  a  great 
and  blessed  truth  conveyed  by  the  conjunction 
of  (fioOAoi)  servants,  and  (\aTpev<Tovaiv),  shall 
serve.  His  slaves  shall  be  elevated  to  the 
dignity  of  temple-servitors.  The  idea  is  akin 
to  that  presented  by  our  Lord  (Joiini5:i5), 
'  Henceforth  I  call  j'ou  not  servants  (Sovkov^), 
but  friends.'  "  The  Greek  word  here  named 
is  never  used  in  the  New  Testament,  where  it 
applies  to  the  servants  of  Jesus  Ciirist,  in  the 
sense  of  slaves.  Shall  we  translate  Paul's 
phrase,  so  frequently  employed,  "the  servant 
of  Jesus  Christ,"  "the  s/wre  of  Jesus  Christ?" 
The  translation,  "  his  slaves  shall  serve  him" 
expresses  an  impossible  idea.  The  words, 
"his  servants  shall  serve  him,"  mean,  simply, 
that  they  who  have  served  him  here  will 
serve  him  there.  The  redeemed  life  is  a  life 
of  service,  not  one  of  holy  idleness,  were  that 
even  possible.  The  word  XaTpevaovaiv  {shall 
serve),  in  this  place,  implies  holy  service. 

4.  And  they  shall  see  his  face.  Ini])ly- 
ing  intimacy  of  personal  conimuninn  and  in- 
tercourse.—And  his  name  shall  be  in  their 
foreheads.  On  (eVi,  with  the  genitive),  their 
foreheads.  In  ch.  3  :  12,  we  have  the  promise, 
"He  that  overcometh,  I  will  make  him  a 
pillar  in  the  temple  of  my  God,  and  he  shall 
go  out  thence  no  more,  and  I  will  write  upon 
him  the  name  of  my  God,  and  the  name  of 
the  city  of  my  God,  new  Jerusalem."  They 
whose  state  of  final  felicity  we  are  now  con- 
sidering realize  the  fulfillment  of  this  prom- 
ise. Again  in  14:  1,  we  read  of  the  hundred 
forty  and  four  thousand  with  the  Lamb  on 


304 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XXII. 


5  "And  there  shall  be  no  night  there  ;  and  they  need 
no  candle,  neither  light  of  the  sun  ;  for  *the  Lord  God 
t;iveth  them  light:  <^and  they  shall  reign  for  ever  and 
ever. 


5  face ;  and  his  name  shall  be  on  their  foreheads.  And 
there  shall  be  night  no  more ;  and  they  need  no 
light  of  lamp,  neither  light  of  sun;  for  the  Lord 
(jod  shall  give  them  light:  and  they  shall  reign 
1  for  ever  and  ever. 


ach.  21;  23,  25 6  Ps.  36:  9;  84:  11 c  Dan.  7:  27;  Eom.  5:  17;  2  Tim.  2  :  12  ;  ch.3:  21. 1  Gr,  unto  the  ages  of  the  ages. 


Mount  Zion,  "having  his  name,  and  the  name 
of  his  Father,  written  on  their  foreheads." 
The  meaning,  in  all  these  places,  is  for  sub- 
stance the  same.  In  the  passage  last  quoted, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  revision,  following  the 
text  of  Westcott  and  Hort,  has  "his  name," 
as  well  as  "his  Father's  name."  This  appears 
to  be  the  true  reading,  and  it  aifords  another 
instance  of  the  association  of  Father  and  Son 
in  all  that  concerns  the  salvation  of  the  elect. 
Our  present  text  has,  simply,  "his  name"; 
but  this  is  like  what  we  find  in  ver.  3,  "the 
throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  shall  be  in  it, 
and  Ats  servants  shall  serve  him  " — where  the 
"his"  evidently  includes  both  God  and  the 
Lamb,  viewing  them  in  the  oneness  of  their 
essential  being.  So  in  the  verse  now  studied, 
"his  name"  applies  to  both  God  and  the 
Lamb  in  the  same  way  as  "his  servants." 
The  "  name  in  the  forehead"  is  a  symbolical 
expression,  in  contrast  with  that  "mark  of  the 
beast"  of  which  we  have  seen  so  much  in 
former  chapters.  It  implies  how  entirely 
those  redeemed  ones  belong  to  him  who  has 
redeemed  them.     They  are  "his  own." 

5.  And  there  shall  be  no  night  there. 
"  There  shall  be  night  no  longer,"  is  more 
exact,  and  more  expressive.  Night  is  to  man, 
in  his  present  state,  in  some  sense  a  sign  of 
imperfection.  It  is  for  him  a  season  of  rest 
and  slumber;  but  the  very  fact  that  he  needs 
rest  and  slumber  is  a  token  of  that  which 
came  upon  him  when  it  was  said,  "In  the 
sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread."  It 
is  also  a  season  of  darkness,  in  which  wild 
beasts  prowl,  and  wicked  men  steal  abroad  to 
plunder  and  kill.  It  is  an  image  of  the  night 
of  the  grave,  as  sleep  is  the  "brother"  and 
image  of  death.  In  the  new  earth  and  the 
holy  city,  service  will  bring  no  fatigue,  and 
they  who  serve  will  need  no  hours  for  slum- 
ber and  repose.  Darkness  will  never  visit 
them  ;  for  as  the  city  hath  no  need  of  the  sun, 
so  there  will  be  no  experience  of  either  the 
sun-setting  or  the  sun-rising.  Nor  among 
the  dwellers  in  the  holy  city  will  there  be 
any  to  need  the  cover  of  darkness  for  their 
deeds.     How  much  of  this  description  is  to 


be  viewed  as  symbolism,  and  how  much  indic- 
ative of  changed  physical  conditions,  it  may 
be  impossible  to  decide.  The  case  is  like  that 
of  the  new  heaven  and  new  earth,  where 
under  all  the  spiritual  meanings  of  the  picture 
given,  something  realistic  seems  necessarily 
to  be  understood.  We  are  to  remember, 
nevertheless,  that  what  John  beholds  appears 
to  him  in  vision.  It  is  not  in  itself  reality, 
but  pictorial  representations  of  that  reality 
which  is  to  be.  The  essential  thing  to  be 
understood  by  it  all  is  the  fact  that  whatever 
in  man's  present  state  implies  imperfection, 
will  be  so  changed  in  that  prep.vred  world  in 
which  the  final  home  of  the  redeemed  i*  to 
be,  as  that  these  "former  things"  will  have 
"passed  away." — And  they  need  no  can- 
dle [no  light  of  lamp],  neither  light  of  the 
sun,  for  the  Lord  God  giveth  [shall  give] 
them  light.  Virtually  a  representation  of 
21 :  23.— And  they  shall  reign  for  ever  and 
ever  [unto  tlic  ages  of  ages].  The  same  note 
of  eternity  is  used  here  as  in  passages  which 
describe  the  fate  of  the  condemned.  The 
word  for  "they  shall  reign"  (iSao-iAeiiaovaif) 
means,  strictly,  "they  shall  be  kings.'  The 
same  word,  only  in  a  past  tense,  is  used  at 
20:  4,  "and  they  lived,  and  reigned  with 
Christ  a  thousand  years."  Here,  as  there, 
we  understand  that  the  redeemed  share  the 
kingship  of  him  who  has  redeemed  them. 
The  nature  of  this  kingship  we  infer  from  the 
nature  of  his  kingdom.  "He  [Christ]  shall 
reign,"  we  are  told,  "till  he  hath  put  all 
enemies  under  his  feet";  for  God  "hath  put 
all  things  under  his  feet"  (i  Cor.  i5: 25. 26).  He 
is  to  "abolish  all  rule,  and  all  authority  and 
power"  .  .  .  "that  God  may  be  all  in  all." 
In  Rom.  5:  17,  we  read  how  "they  that  re- 
ceive the  abundance  of  grace  and  of  the  gift 
of  righteousness  shall  reign  in  life  through 
Jesus  Christ.  '  All  that  is  implied  in  this,  we 
cannot  hope  even  to  conjecture  now.  The 
word  "reign"  points  to  many  conditions  of 
the  redeemed  state  with  which  it  is  impossible 
that  we  should  now  become  acquainted. 
Enough  for  us  to  know,  at  present,  that  the 
"kingdom"  won  by  the  suffering  Lord,  and 


Ch.  XXII.] 


REVELATION. 


305 


6  And  he  said  unto  me,  "These  sayings  are  faithful 
and  true:  and  the  Lord  God  of  the  holv  prophets  'sent 
his  angei  to  shew  unto  his  servants  the  things  which 
must  shortly  be  done. 


6  And  he  said  unto  me.  These  words  are  faithful  and 
true:  and  the  Lord,  the  God  of  the  spirits  of  the 
prophets,  sent  his  augel  to  shew  unto  his  servants 


1  ch.  19:  9;  ?1 :  5 b  ch.  1:  1. 


in  which  he  now  reigns,  will,  in  its  consum- 
mation and  final  glory,  be  shared  with  his 
"called,  and  chosen,  and  faithful."  Even 
now,  in  some  sense,  they  reign  with  him.  Tn 
the  victories,  and  conquests,  and  resulting 
dominion  of  that  grace  of  which  they  are  at 
once  the  prophets  and  the  dispensers,  they 
even  now  share — all  of  which,  it  may  finally 
appear,  are  "shadows  of  the  good  to  come" 

(Heb.  10:  l). 

6-20.  The  Epilogue. 
6.  And  he  said  unto  me,  These   say- 
ings  are   faithful  and  true.     In  21 :  5,  we 

have  the  same  declaration  as  to  the  genuine- 
ness and  trustworthiness  of  these  communica- 
tions. The  Greek  words  used  (ffi<rTol  xal  aAijen-ot), 
have  sf)ecial  significance.  "  Trustivorthy  and 
genuine^'  is  a  good  rendering  of  them.  The 
connection  in  this  place  seems  to  indicate  that 
they  are,  as  here  used,  intended  to  cover  all 
the  communications  made  in  the  book  of  these 
revelatio7is.  The  words  next  following  show 
this. — And  the  Lord  God  of  the  holy 
prophets  sent  his  angel  to  shew  unto  his 
servants  the  things  which  must  shortly 
be  done.  "  The  Lord  God  of  the  spirits  of 
the  prophets,'^  is  according  to  the  amended 
reading.  The  words  are  equivalent  to,  "The 
Lord  God  by  whom  all  the  prophets  were  in- 
spired"; a  declaration,  in  effect,  that  this 
New  Testament  prophecy,  this  Book  of  the 
Apocalypse,  has  its  inspiration  at  the  same 
source  as  the  Old  Testament  prophecies.  The 
expression,  "spirits  of  the  prophets,"  is  pecu- 
liar. Alford  understands,  "those  spirits 
of  theirs,  which,  informed  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  have  become  the  vehicles  of  pro- 
phecy"; Carpenter,  simply,  "the  God  whose 
Spirit  moved  the  holy  men  of  old  to  speak"; 
Hengstenberg,  "the  Spirit  of  prophecy  which 
rested  on  them."  "The  Spirit  itself,"  so  the 
Speaker's  Commentary  interprets  here,  and 
correctly,  "  is  the  same  for  all ;  but  each  pro- 
phet has  his  own  measure  of  the  Spirit's 
gift."  Diisterdieck  understands  each  pro- 
phet's own  spirit,  "which  God  moves  and 
teaches  [erregt  und  ttnterweist]  by  his  Spirit." 
He  does  not  agree  with  De  Wette  in  making 
the  allusion   the  same  as   in  1  Cor.   14:  32: 


"  The  spirits  of  the  prophets  are  subject  to  the 
prophets."  Hengstenberg' s  view  appears  to 
be  the  more  correct.  According  to  this,  the 
meaning  will  be,  "The  Lord  God  who  be- 
stowed upon  each  of  the  prophets  that  meas-  ' 
ure  of  the  Spirit's  gift  which  each  enjoyed, 
sent  his  angel,"  etc.  The  words,  "sent  his 
angel,"  recall  ch.  1:  1,  "He sent  and  signified 
it  [the  Kevelation]  by  his  angel  unto  his  serv- 
ant John."  Alike  there  and  here  the  impli- 
cation seems  to  be  of  an  actual  angelic  agency 
employed  in  these  revelations.  We  should 
understand  by  this,  if  accepting  it,  that  an 
angel  was  present  with  John  through  all,  and 
that  his  agency  was  concerned,  more  or  less, 
in  that  condition  of  John  himself,  which  made 
such  revelations  possible  for  him,  and  in  the 
various  changes  of  the  vision.  To  him,  also, 
the  office  would  fall  of  interpreting,  so  far  as 
this  was  permitted,  the  meaning  of  the  suc- 
cessive appearances  on  the  Apocalyptic  scene. 
We  should,  in  this  case,  recognize  the  angelic 
attendant  in  ch.  1 :  1,  10;  21 :  5;  also  here  and 
in  ver.  8  and  16,  below.  The  point  cannot, 
perhaps,  be  fully  settled,  although  what  we 
have  suggested  seems  probable.  But  who  is 
it  that  speaks,  at  the  beginning  of  the  verse, 
where  we  read,  as  in  other  places,  "And  he 
said  unto  me"  ?  If  it  is  the  attendant  angel 
that  speaks,  he  must  do  so  representatively ; 
for  the  words  in  ver.  7  point  unmistakably 
to  the  Lord  himself. — "Must  shortly  be 
done,"  at  the  close  of  the  present  verse, 
should  be,  as  in  the  revision,  ^^miist  shortly 
come  to  pass."  Here,  again,  we  have  the 
repetition  of  a  phrase  in  ch.  1 :  1.  This  re- 
turn, throughout  the  verse,  to  thought  and 
language  so  identical  with  what  appeared  at 
the  opening  of  the  book,  shows  that  "the 
Revelation"  proper  has  now  reached  its  close. 
What  was  announced  in  those  opening  verses 
has  been  completed;  the  vast  scheme  of  the 
future  has  passed  in  vision  before  this  "ser- 
vant" of  the  Lord,  through  whom  so  much 
of  the  things  that  must  come  to  pass  "shortly" 
— beginning  with  the  time  then  present,  and 
reaching  on  to  the  end — as  was  consistent 
with  divine  purpose,  were  to  be  made  known 
to  his  fellow  "servants"  of  each  successive 


306 


KEVELATION. 


[Ch.  XIX. 


7  "  Behold,  I  come  quickly  •  '  blessed  is  he  that  keepeth 
the  savings  of  the  prophecy  of  this  hook. 

8  And  I  John  saw  these  things,  and  heard  them.  And 
■when  I  had  heard  and  seen,  <^I  fell  down  to  worship  be- 
fore the  feet  of  the  angel  which  shewed  me  these 
things. 

9  Then  saith  he  unto  me,  ''See  thori  do  U  not :  for  I  am 
thy  fellow  servant,  and  of  thy  brethren,  the  prophets, 
and  of  them  which  keep  the  sayings  of  this  book: 
worship  tjod. 


7  the  things  which  must  shortly  come  to  pass.  And 
behold,  1  come  quickly.  Blessed  is  he  that  keepeth 
the  words  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book. 

8  And  I  John  am  he  that  heardand  saw  these  things. 
And  when  I  heard  and  saw,  I  fell  down  to  worship 
before  the  feet  of  the  angel  who  shewed  me  these 

9  things.  And  he  saith  unto  me.  See  thou  do  it  not: 
1  am  a  fellow-servant  with  thee  and  with  thy  breth- 
ren the  prophets,  and  with  those  who  keep  the 
words  of  this  book :   worship  God. 


a  ch.  3:  11;  ver.  10,  12,  20 b  ch.  1:  3 c  cb.  19:  10 dch.  19:  10. 


Century  down  to  the  time  of  the  end.  What 
follows  now  in  the  book,  though  John  re- 
ceives it  while  still,  as  at  first,  "in  the 
Spirit,"  is  less  in  the  nature  of  a  "  Kevela- 
tion,'"  and  more  in  that  of  a  concluding 
message,  summing  those  lessons  of  the  whole 
book  which  every  Christian  of  every  age  will 
need  to  receive  and  to  ponder.  As  the  open- 
ing verses  of  the  book  were  styled  the  Pro- 
logue, those  with  which  the  book  ends  are, 
in  the  same  sense,  the  Epilogue. 

7.  Behold,  I  come  quickly.  These  are, 
clearly,  words  of  the  Lord  himself,  whether 
speaking  personally,  or  representatively, 
through  the  angel.  There  is  much  difficulty 
in  tracing  with  certainty  the  personality  of 
the  speaker,  not  only  here,  but  in  subsequent 
verses.  It  may  be  that  the  phraseology  re- 
flects, in  some  measure,  a  certain  indistinctness 
of  this  nature  in  the  vision  itself.  This  is 
the  more  likely  to  be  true,  if  we  may  suppose 
that,  the  "Revelation"  proper  being  con- 
cluded, the  trance-like  condition  of  the  seer, 
described  in  the  phrase  "in  the  Spirit,"  now 
gradually  changes  to  a  normal  one.  It  is 
certainly  the  Lord  who  is  as  if  speaking  in 
ver.  16  of  this  chapter,  "I  Jesus  have  sent 
mine  angel, "etc.  The  words  now  immediately 
considered  must  also  be  understood  in  a  like 
way.  It  must  be  the  Lord  himself  who  is  to 
"come  quickly." — Blessed  is  he  that 
keepeth  the  sayings  of  the  prophecy  of 
this  book.  This  is  a  reiteration  of  the  value 
and  importance  of  what  the  book  contains, 
implying  also  that  its  source  is  divine.  It 
might  seem  as  if  the  many  attempts  to  dispar- 
age the  book,  since  made,  had  been  anticipated, 
while  a  blessing  is  pronounced  upon  those 
who  view  and  use  it  aright.  It  is  distinctly 
termed  a  "prophecy,"  and  so  a  place  is 
claimed  for  it  amongst  those  divine  communi- 
cations whose  messages  are  so  momentous, 
and  who.se  character  and  source  entitle  them 
to  such  reverence. 

8.  And   I  John  saw  these  things,  and 


heard  them.  The  present  participle  of  the 
verb  is  used,  in  each  case,  with  the  article  be- 
fore the  "hearing"  (oKoutoi')— the  order  in  the 
Greek  text,  as  amended,  differing  from  that 
used  in  the  old  version.  The  revisers  render 
more  correctly:  "And  I,  John,  am  he  that 
heard  these  things,  and  saw  them";  or,  per- 
haps, we  might  give  it  literally,  "  awi  the 
person  hearing  and  seeing  these  things."  — 
And  ^vhen  I  had  heard  and  seen,  I  fell 
down  to  worship  before  the  feet  of  the 
angel  which  shewed  me  these  things. 
It  will  be  useful  to  connect  the  whole  repre- 
sentation, here,  with  what  we  have  in  ch.  1 : 
20.  Our  exposition  there,  has,  we  trust,  made 
it  seem  pretty  certain  that  the  attendant  angel, 
and  that  other  glorious  Person,  "one  like 
unto  the  Son  of  man,"  were  doth  present  in 
that  opening  scene  of  all  which  this  book  de- 
scribes. The  "voice  like  a  trumpet"  is  the 
voice  of  the  angel;  the  "voice  as  the  sound 
of  many  waters"  is  the  voice  of  the  Lord. 
In  the  passage  now  immediately  before  us 
(ver.  616),  there  is  no  intimation  that  if  both 
Jesus  and  the  angel  are  present,  both  are  seen. 
The  words  spoken,  however,  seem  to  be  in  one 
place  words  of  the  angel ;  in  others,  words  of 
tha  Lord. 

9.  Then  saith  he  unto  me.  It  is  evi- 
dently, from  what  follows,  the  angel  who 
"saith,"  See  thou  do  it  not,  ['^see  not,  as  in 
19:  10]. — For  I  am  thy  fellow-servant, 
and  of  thy  brethren  the  prophets,  and 
of  them  which  keep  the  sayings  of  this 
book :  worship  God.  Clearly,  this  is  not 
the  same  being  as  he  at  whose  feet  John 
"fell"  (ch.i:i7)  "as  dead."  He  at  whose  feet 
John  now  falls,  does  not  address  him  in  those 
august  words:  "I  am  the  first  and  the  last:  I 
am  he  that  liveth  and  was  dead ;  and,  behold, 
I  am  alive  forever  more,  amen,  and  have  the 
keys  of  hell  and  of  death."  John  is  now  for- 
bidden to  offer  any  act  of  worship;  the  person 
he  sees  is  an  angel,  who,  as  at  ch.  19:  10,  an- 
nounces himself  as  a  fellow-servant,  alike  of 


Ch.  XXII.] 


REVELATION. 


307 


10  "And  he  saith  unto  me,  Seal  not  the  sayings  of  the 
prophecy  of  this  book  :  *  for  the  time  is  at  hand. 

11  =  He  that  is  unjust,  let  him  he  unjust  still :  and  he 
which  is  filthj',  let  him  be  filthy  still:  and  he  that  is 
righteous,  let  him  be  righteous  still ;  and  he  that  is 
holy,  let  him  be  holy  still. 


10  And  he  saith  unto  me.  Seal  not  up  the  words  of  the 

11  prophecy  of  this  book;  for  the  time  is  at  hand.  He 
that  is  unrighteous,  let  him  do  iinrighleoiisness  i  still  • 
and  he  that  is  filthy,  let  him  be  filthy  'still:  and  he 
that  is  righteous,  let  him  do  righteousness  'still: 


a  Dan.  8:  26;  12:4,9;  ch.  10:4 ich.  1:3 cEzelt.  3:  27;  Dan.  12: 10;  2  Tim.  3: 13. 1  Or,  get  more. 


the  apostles,  such  as  John  ("thy  fellow-ser- 
vant"), and  "of  the  prophets";  he  is  one  of 
those  to  whom  "  the  sayings  of  this  book"  are 
a  law  and  a  testimony,  as  they  are  to  John 
and  to  all  his  "fellow-servants"  of  every  age. 
At  the  same  time  and  in  this  connection,  as 
we  shall  see  directly,  that  same  voice  which 
John  at  the  first  heard  saying:  "I  am  he  that 
liveth  and  was  dead,"  is  now  again  heard, 
saying:  "Behold,  I  come  quickly,"  and,  "I, 
Jesus,  have  sent  mine  angel."  We  will  notice 
this  again,  further  on. 

10.  And  he  saith  unto  me,  Seal  not  the 
sayings  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book:  for 
the  time  is  at  hand.  To  Daniel  it  was  said 
(ch.  12:4):  "Thou,  O  Daniel,  shut  up  the  words, 
and  seal  the  book,  even  to  the  time  of  the  end; 
many  shall  run  to  and  fro,  and  knowledge 
shall  be  increased."  The  command  to  John 
is:  ^'Seal  not  the  sayings  of  the  prophecy  of 
this  book."  The  difference  is  occasioned 
partly  by  a  difference  in  the  time  at  which  the 
prophecies  of  Daniel  and  of  John  were  re- 
spectively given,  and  partly  by  the  fact  that 
they  belong  to  different  dispensations.  To 
Daniel  it  was  said  (12:9):  "The  words  are 
closed  up  and  sealed  till  the  time  of  the  end." 
In  the  verse  before  quoted  from  the  same 
chapter,  we  are  told  how  at  this  "time  of  the 
end"  many  "shall  run  to  and  fro,  and  knowl- 
edge shall  be  increased."  John's  mission  as 
a  prophet  belongs  to  this  "time  of  the  end"; 
the  time  in  which  there  should  be  increase  of 
knowledge,  and  when  a  study  of  the  prophet's 
word,  as  of  all  other  words  of  God,  should 
be  fruitful  and  profitable.  Daniel's  prophecy, 
also,  belongs  to  the  dispensation  of  type  and 
shadow;  John's  to  that  of  substance  and  ful- 
fillment. Many  things  were  "sealed  "  under 
the  law  which  are  open  under  the  gospel,  to 
every  reverent  and  prayerful  student  of  the 
word.  The  clause,  "the  time  is  at  hand,"  is 
equivalent  to  "the  time  of  the  end  has  come" 
—the  time  of  the  gospel,  and  of  those  final  dis- 
pensations of  God,  in  which  alike  the  pro- 
phecy and  the  promise,  the  types  and  the 
emblems  of  the  former  Dispensation,  shall 
reach  their  fulfillment. 


11.  He  that  is  unjust,  let  him  be  un- 
just still;  and  he  which  is  filthy,  let  him 
be  filthy  still;  and  he  that  is  righteous, 
let  him  be  righteous  still :  and  he  that  is 
holy,  let  him  be  holy  still.  As  intimated 
above,  these  words,  as  they  often  are,  might  be 
quoted  in  direct  evidence  of  the  fixity  of  that 
final  state  of  misery,  or  of  felicity  of  which,  in 
the  previous  chapter,  and  in  the  earlier  verses  of 
the  present  one,  such  indications  appear,  and 
in  the  same  express  waj',  were  it  not  that  the 
connection  requires  a  different  general  sense. 
The  vision  of  the  judgment,  the  vision  of  the 
new  heaven  and  the  new  earth,  with  that  of 
the  holy  city  Jerusalem,  are,  all  alike,  now 
closed.  The  discourse  is,  now,  not  of  them ; 
but  of  the  "book"  of  whicli  the  description 
of  these  scenes  forms  a  part,  with  directions  to 
John  as  to  the  use  he  shall  make  of  the  reve- 
lations he  has  received.  It  is  in  this  connec- 
tion that  the  words:  "He  that  is  unjust  [un- 
righteous] let  him  be  unjust  [let  him  do 
unrighteousness]  still "  etc.,  are  spoken.  They 
are  words  which  apply  in  connection  with  the 
directions  given  to  John,  with  reference  to 
these  revelations,  and  the  solemn  assurances 
made  to  him  of  their  genuineness  and  truthful- 
ness. We  must  understand  them  as  defining 
— as  is  so  often  done  in  the  New  Testament — 
the  respective  attitudes  toward  these,  as  toward 
all  other  words  of  God,  of  the  two  great 
classes  of  mankind,  and  as  laying  upon  each 
individual  human  being  the  full  responsi- 
bility of  his  course  with  reference  to  them. 
What  they  seem  to  mean  is,  "He  that  will 
persist  in  unrighteousness,  after  all  of  instruc- 
tion and  appeal  that  may  bo  addressed  to  him, 
let  him  do  so;  he  that  clings  to  his  filthiness, 
let  him  have  his  strange  choice;  while  if  any 
will  be  righteous  and  holy,  all  motive,  all 
opportunity,  and  all  gracious  help  shall  be  al- 
lowed them."  The  words  assume  that  each 
human  being  to  whom  these  messages  come, 
exercises  his  power  and  privilege  of  choice 
between  "the  cursing  and  the  blessing"  which 
are  set  before  him  as  the  two  great  and  awful 
alternatives.  There  is  thii.s,  indeed,  implied 
the    idea  of  finality   in    the   results  of   this 


308 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XXII. 


12  "And,  behold,  I  come  quickly ;  and  '  my  reward  is 
with  me,  "to  give  every  man  according  as  his  work 
shall  be. 

i:{  •>  I  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the 
end,  the  first  and  the  last. 

14  «Ble.ssed  are  they  that  do  his  commandments,  that 
they  may  have  right  /to  the  tree  of  life,!' and  may  enter 
in  through  the  gates  into  the  city. 

1.1  For  A  without  are  'dogs,  and  sorcerers,  and  whore- 
mongers, and  murderers,  and  idolaters,  and  whosoever 
loveth  and  maketh  a  lie. 


12  and  he  that  is,holy,  let  him  be  made  holy  i  still.  Be- 
hold, I  come  quickly;  and  my  ^ reward  is  with  me, 

13  to  render  to  each  man  according  as  his  work  is.  I 
am  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega,  the  first  and  the  last, 

14  the  beginning  and  the  end.  Bles.sed  are  t  hey  that  wash 
their  robes,  that  they  may  have  ^the  right  fo  come  to 
the  tree  of  life,  and  may  enter  in  by  the  *gates  into 

15  the  city.  Without  are  the  dogs,  and  the  sorcerers, 
and  the  fornicators,  and  the  murderers,  and  the  idola- 
ters, and  every  one  that  loveth  and  i*  maketh  a  lie. 


over.  7....6I»a.40:  10;  62  :  11.  ...c  Rom.  2:6;  14:  12;  cb.  20  :  12.... d  I«a.  41  :  4;  44:6-  48:  12;  ch.  1:8,  11;  21:6....e  Dun  12: 

12;  lJohD3:  24... ./ ver.  2  ;  ch.  2:  7....9ch.  21  :  27....  A  1   Cor.  6:  9.  10;  G.il.  5:  1».  20,  21;  Col.  3:  6;  ch.  9;  20,  21;  21:8.... 

i  Phil.  3  :  2. 1  Or,  yet  more 2  Or,  wages. . .  .3  Or,  the  authority  over 4  Gr.  portals 5  Or,  doeth. 


choice.  What  he  chooses,  while  the  opportu- 
nity of  choice  remains  to  him,  will  become 
destiny,  and  be  changeless  forever.  This  is 
further  implied  in  what  is  next  said. 

12.  And,  behold,  I  come  quickly;  and 
my  reward  is  with  me,  to  give  every  man 
according  as  his  work  shall  be.  This 
verse  connects  itself  directly  with  that  which 
precedes.  "To  every  man,"  to  the  "unright- 
eous" and  to  the  "filthy,"  to  the  "right- 
eous" and  the  "holy,"  a  "reward,"  a  re- 
turn, a  recompense  of  glory  or  perdition, 
shall  be  given,  "according  as  his  work  shall 
be."  In  view  of  the  solemnity  of  these 
utterances,  we  cannot  think  it  right,  with 
Lange,  De  Wette,  and  others,  to  imagine 
"something  ironical"  in  the  words:  "he  that 
is  unrighteous  let  him  be  unrighteous  still,  he 
that  is  filthy,  let  him  be  filthy  still."  The 
tone  of  the  whole  passage  seems  to  us  too 
much  in  keeping  with  the  awful  nature  of 
the  alternative  thus  announced  among  these 
last  of  the  words  of  inspiration,  to  allow  of 
such  an  interpretation.  Upon  what  is  implied 
in  the  words:  "Behold,  I  come  quicklj%"  in 
this  ver.se,  and  in  ver.  7,  with  the  added  ones, 
"my  reward  is  with  me,"  etc.,  we  must  take 
space  for  more  extended  comment  than  is  pos- 
sible here,  and  refer  the  reader,  according]3% 
to  Excursus  F,  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 

13.  I  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  begin> 
ning  <ind  the  end,  the  first  and  the  last. 
Almost  word  for  word,  what  was  said  by 
the  "one  like  unto  the  Son  of  man,"  whom 
John  saw  at  the  first.  It  is  the  being  who  has 
just  said:  "I  will  give  unto  every  man  ac- 
cording as  his  work  shall  be";  and  it  re- 
minds us  of  those  words  of  our  Lord  which 
this  same  apostle  has  before  recorded  in  his 
Gospel  (ch.5:22, 27):  "  For  neither  doth  the 
Father  judge  any  man  ;  but  he  hath  given  all 
judgment  unto  the  Son And  he 


gave  him  authority  to  executa  judgment,  be- 
cause he  is  the  Son  of  man."  (Revision). 

14.  Blessed  are  they  that  do  his  com- 
mandments, that  they  may  have  right  to 
the  tree  of  life,  and  may  enter  in  through 
the  gates  into  the  city.  These  are  thought 
by  some,  to  be  words  of  John  himself,  as  if 
in  a  kind  of  response  to  those  which  had  just 
been  addressed  to  him.  They  should  prob- 
ably be  so  taken.  The  change  in  the  revision  of 
"that  do  his  commandments,"  to  "that  wash 
their  robes,"  is  warranted  by  the  reading  alike 
in  the  Sinaitic  and  the  Alexandrine  manu- 
scripts, and  is  followed  by  the  text  of  West- 
cott  and  Hort.  Wordsworth,  on  exegetical 
grounds,  thinks  that  the  old  form  should  be  re- 
tained. But  surely  the  manuscript  authority, 
in  a  case  like  this,  should  decide.  In  the 
changed  form  of  the  clause,  the  doctrine  im- 
plied is  more  evidently  in  consistence  with  that 
general  doctrine  of  the  New  Testament,  which 
makes  all  the  benefits  of  redemption  depend- 
ent upon  the  application  of  that  "blood  of 
Jesus  Christ  his  Son,"  which  "cleanseth  us 
from  all  sin."  The  clause,  "have  right  to  the 
tree  of  life,"  points  us  back  to  Gen.  3:  34. 
That  "flaming  sword"  which  "kept  the  way 
of  the  tree  of  life,"  is  sheathed  for  those  who 
have  part  in  that  "redemption,"  which  is  "by 
the  blood  of  the  Lamb."  In  the  same  work 
of  redemption,  the  gates  of  the  city  are  thrown 
open  to  them,  and  they  may  "enter  in." 

15.  For  without  are  dogs,  and  sorcer- 
ers, and  whoremongers,  and  murderers, 
and  idolaters,  and  whosoever  loveth  and 
maketh  [doetli]  a  lie.  The  changes  in  the 
revision  will  be  noticed.  Such  as  here  de- 
scribed is  the  company  they  must  keep  who 
have  neither  sought  nor  received  that  "wash- 
ing of  regeneration,"  nor  have  ever,  through 
faith  in  Jesus,  obtained  the  right  to  enter  in 
through  the  gates  into  the  city. 


Ch.  XXIL] 


REVELATION. 


309 


16  "I  Jesus  have  sent  mine  angel  to  testify  unto  you 
these  thiugs  in  the  churches.  'I  am  the  r(»ot  and  the 
otlspring  of  David,  mid  'the  hright  and  morning  star. 

17  And  the  Spirit  and  ''the  bride  say,  Come.  And  let 
him  that  heareth  say,  Come.  'Aud"  let  him  that  is 
athirst  come.  And  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the 
water  of  life  freely. 


16  I  Jesus  have  sent  mine  angel  to  te.stify  unto  you 
these  things  i  for  the  churches.  1  am  the  root  and 
the  offspring  of  David,  the  bright,  the  morning  star. 

17  2  \,,(i  the  Spirit  and  the  bride  say,  Come.  And  he 
that  heareth^  let  him  say.  Come.  And  he  that  is 
athirst,  let  him  come:  he  that  will,  let  him  take  the 
water  of  life  freely. 


(  c)i.  1:  1 b  ch.  5  ;  5. 


16.  I  Jesus   have  "sent  mine  angel   to 
testify   unto    you    these    things    in    the 
churches.     '^^For  (eirl,  with  dat.  over,  or  for) 
the  churches";  "over,"  in  the  margin  of  the 
revision.      Like    sayings  quoted   above,    this 
must  be  by   Jesus  himself.      Even   if  it  be 
thought  that  the  angel  speaks  as  in  the  person 
of  the  Lord,  representatively,  his  identity  in 
so  speaking  loses  itself  in  that  of  him  who  an- 
nounces  himself   as    "I,    Jesus."      For    all 
practical  purposes,  the  nice  exegetical  point 
involved   need   not  be  insisted   upon.     Both 
here  and  in  those  places  where  it  is  said  so 
repeatedlj",   "Behold,   I   come  quickly,"    we 
may  feel  that  we  hear  the  words  of  the  Lord 
himself.     The  words  following  in  the  verse, 
"have  sent  mine   angel,"  etc.,   authenticate 
the  whole  book  as   from  the  Lord  himself 
At  the  same  time  they  indicate  its  purpose. 
Its  mission  is  "for  the  churches."     As  a  mes- 
sage to  them,  involving  prophecies  of  things 
to  come,    warning,    encouragement,   inspira- 
tion, hope,  it  is  to  serve  down  to  the  time  of 
the  end  itself,  as  the  testimony  of  him  who  is 
"the  faithful  and  true  witness."— I  am  the 
root  and  the  offspring  of  David.     The  sec- 
ond of  these,  "offspring,"  Diisterdieck  treats  as 
epexegetical   of  the  first,   "root."     Christ  is 
the  root  of  David,  in  the  sense  of  being  his 
offspring.      The    word    for    offspring    {yivoi), 
means  originally,  "race,"   but  is  often  used 
of  race  in  the  sense  of  offspring.     Our  Lord, 
in  the  words  he  uses,  refers  to  his  human 
lineage,   an  allusion  quite  in   harmony  with 
the  use  of  his  name  "Jesus,"  in  the  connec- 
tion; the  only  instance,  throughout  the  book, 
in  which  he  speaks  of  hitnself  by  this  name. 
He  is  speaking  here,  therefore,  in  that  nature 
and  office  which  he  a.ssumed  in  his  earthly 
mission,  and  in   that   relation   to  his  people 
into  which  he  entered,  when  in  his  human 
birth  there  was  fulfilled  in  him  that  word  of 
Isaiah   (ch. ii:i):    "There  shall   come  forth  a 
rod  out  of  the  stem  of  Jesse,  and  a  branch 
shall  grow  out  of  his  roots."     Stuart  claims 
for  the  Greek  (piia),  the  same  meaning  as  at 


ch.  5:  5,  "root-shoot,"  which  does,  indeed, 
make  the  word  here  harmonize  better  with 
that  in  Lsaiah. — And  the  bright  and  the 
morning  star.  Better  to  omit,  "and,"  in 
both  cases,  and  read:  "the  bright,  the  morn- 
ing star."  We  may  connect  with  this  what 
we  have  at  ch.  2:  28,  "I  will  give  him"  (him 
that  overcometh)  "the  morning  star."  Stuart . 
says:  "It  is  the  splendor  and  beauty  of  the 
morning  star,  which  makes  it  here  an  object 
of  comparison  with  the  splendor  of  the  King 
in  Zion."  It  is  doubtful,  however,  if  this 
exhausts  the  symbolism.  The  morning  star 
is  the  herald  of  the  day.  It  is  peculiarly  the 
symbcl  of  pro^nise.  We  may  see  in  it,  by 
anticipation,  all  that  the  day  is  to  bring. 
Even  such  is  Christ  to  the  .soul.  Such  was 
he  in  the  type,  and  promise,  and  prophecy  of 
the  Old  Dispensation;  and  when  in  his  actual 
advent  he  rose  amid  the  dawn  of  a  New  Dis- 
pensation, it  was  as  the  harbinger  of  all  that 
which  the  gospel  has  been  to  men,  and  which 
comes  to  the  full  in  the  new  heaven  and  new 
earth — the  "perfect  day." 

17.  And  the  Spirit  and  the  Bride  say. 
Come.  We  notice  that  nearly  all  the  com- 
mentators appear  to  understand  the  "Come," 
in  this  verse,  as  a  call  for  the  coming  of  the 
Lord.  "In  response,"  says  the  Speakers 
Commentary,  "to  the  Lord's  announcement 
in  ver.  12,  '  Behold,  I  come  quickly,'  the 
universal  church,  the  Bride,  inspired  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  answers,  'Come'."  But  do  the 
retnaining  parts  of  the  verse  harmonize  with 
this? — And  let  him  that  heareth  say. 
Come.  And  let  him  that  is  athirst  come. 
And  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the 
water  of  life  freely.  The  two  last  clauses, 
certainly,  cannot  be  understood  as  expressing 
a  "  wish  and  prayer"  (Stuart)  for  the  coming 
of  the  Lord.  They  are  invitations.  Can  we 
suppose  such  an  abrupt  change  from  the  one 
thought  to  the  other,  with  no  intimation  of 
change?  Besides,  the  words  are  words  of 
Jesus,  and  they  come  in  much  closer  connec- 
tion with  the  sixteenth  verse  than  with  the 


310 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XXII. 


18  For  I  testify  unto  every  man  that  heareth  the 
words  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book,  ■»  If  any  man  shall 
add  unto  these  things,  God  shall  add  uuto  him  the 
plagues  that  are  written  in  this  book : 

19  And  if  any  man  shall  take  away  from  the  words 
of  the  book  of  this  prophecy,  '(iod  shall  take  away  his 
part  out  of  the  book  of  life,  and  out  of  "the  holy  city, 
and  from  the  things  which  are  written  in  this  book. 


18  I  testify  unto  every  man  that  heareth  the  words  of 
the  prophecy  of  this  book.  If  any  man  shall  add 
lunto  them,  (iod  shall  add  lunto  him  the  plagues 

19  which  are  written  in  this  book:  and  if  any  man 
shall  take  away  from  the  words  of  the  book  of  this 
prophecy,  God  shall  take  away  his  part  from  the  tree 
of  life,  and  out  of  the  holy  city,  i  which  are  written 
in  this  book. 


a  Deut.  4:2;  12  :  32 ;  Prov.  30  :  6. . 


.6  Ex.  32  :  33 ;  Ps.  69  :  28 ;  ch.  3 ;  5  ;  !.■) :  8. . .  .c  ch.  21 : 
tht  things  which  are  written. 


-1  Gr.  upon 2  Or,  even  from 


twelfth,  as  cited  by  the  commentators.  It 
.seems  to  us  that  the  verse  should  be  under- 
stood throughout  as  implying  invitation.  In 
ver.  16,  Jesus  announces  himself  as  sending 
his  angel  to  "testify  these  things  for  the 
churches."  He  makes  himself  known  in 
those  characters  which  cause  him  to  be  the 
hope  of  the  world.  And  now,  in  that  con- 
nection, the  mission  of  the  Spirit  and  the 
church  are  declared.  It  is  to  invite.  This  is 
the  gospel  message,  "Come";  and  the  breadth 
of  the  message  appears  in  the  great  words, 
"  Let  him  that  is  athirst  come  ;  and  whosoever 
will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely." 
Thus  are  the  gospel  message  and  the  gospel 
invitation  emphasized  in  these  final  words  of 
the  whole  Bible. 

18.  For  I  testify.  It  is  John  who  now 
speaks.  "For"  should  be  omitted. — Unto 
every  man  that  heareth  the  words  of  the 
prophecy  of  this  book.  "That  is,"  says 
Lange,  "every  one  who  is  present  at  the 
reading  of  the  book  aloud  in  the  church." 
There  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  for  such 
limitation.  The  warning  and  the  threaten- 
ening  which  follow,  are  set  over  against  the 
benediction  in  ch.  1:3:  "Blessed  is  he  that 
readetli,  and  they  that  hear  the  words  of  this 
projihecy,  and  keep  those  things  which  are 
written  therein."  Surely,  neither  the  bene- 
diction in  the  one  case,  nor  the  threatening 
in  the  other,  were  exclusively  for  the  reader 
and  the  hearer  in  public  services  of  the  apos- 
tolical churches.  Was  it  by  them  alone,  or 
even  nio.st  of  all,  that  such  a  warning  was 
needed  ?  We  must  suppose  the  language  used 
to  take  in  all  who  in  any  manner  become  ac- 
quainted witli  wliut  this  book  contains. — If 
any  man  shall  add  unto  these  things. 
Unless  we  take  the  "any  man,"  as  meaning 
any  man  whatever,  in  whatever  age,  we  limit 
the  whole  lesson  of  the  passage  to  the  age  in 
which  it  was  written  ;  but  if  we  give  the  words 
breadth  enough  to  embrace  all  men  in  all 
times,  then  the  "any  man"  is  really  epexeget- 


ical  of  "every  man  that  heareth."  What 
shall  be  understood  by  "add  unto  these 
things"?  Some  (Vitringa,  Bleek,  etc. ),  un- 
derstand careless  transcribers;  others  (Ewald, 
De  Wette),  "  oral  inaccuracies  of  repetition  "; 
Diisterdieck  understands  a  falsifying  of  the 
revelation.  Ebrard  regards  the  words  as 
"the  seal  which  Christ  himself  impresses 
upon  the  Apocalypse."  Hengstenberg  says: 
"That  such  additions  and  omissions  are  here 
referred  to,  as  belong  to  the  proper  kernel  of 
the  book,  such  as  would  substitute  for  the 
narrow  way  presented  in  it  a  broad  one,  or 
would  in  some  respect  extinguish  the  light  of 
hope  that  shines  in  it  for  Christians,  as  was 
done  by  Hymenseus  and  Philetus,  who  said 
that  the  resurrection  is  past  already  (2  Tim. 2:17); 
this  will  not  for  a  moment  be  doubted  by  any 
one  who  has  discerned  the  spirit  of  this  book." 
Alford  thinks  that  "the  adding  and  the  taking 
away  are  in  the  application  and  reception  in 
the  heart.  All,"  he  says,  "  must  be  received 
and  realized."  And  he  adds  that  "this  is  at 
least  an  awful  warning  both  to  those  who  de- 
spise and  neglect  this  book,  and  to  those  who 
add  to  it  by  irrelevant  and  trifling  interpreta- 
tions."—  God  shall  add  unto  him  the 
plagues  that  are  written  in  this  book. 
It  cannot  be  such  a  light  matter  as  many  sup- 
pose to  treat  the  word  of  God  irreverently,  or 
to  make  it  the  foot-ball  of  critical  prejudices 
and  fancies.  The  judgment  denounced  is 
severe;  but  is  not  the  sin  of  so  perverting  the 
words  of  divine  revelation  as  to  mislead  and 
ruin  souls  great?  The  reference  cannot  be  to 
such  mistakes  of  apprehension  or  exposition 
as  human  infirmity  is  liable  to,  but  to  those 
purposed  corruptions  or  infidel  disputings  of 
the  word  which  hostility  to  the  truth,  and  to 
God  himself,  may  jironipt. 

19  And  if  any  man  sht^ll  take  away 
from  the  words  of  the  book  of  this 
prophecy,  God  shall  take  away  his  part 
out  of  the  book  [tJir  frrr]  of  life,  and  out 
of  the   holy   city,  and   from   the   things 


Ch.  XX.] 


KEVELATION. 


311 


20  He  which  testifieth  these  things  saith,  'Surely  I 
coime  quicklj'.    «Amen.    "^  Even  so,  come,  Lord  Jesus. 

21  "The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  you 
alL    Amen. 


20  He  who  testifieth  these  things  saith,  Yea:  I  come 
quickly.      Amen:    come,  Lord  Jesus. 

21  The  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus'  be  -with  the  saints. 
Ameu. 


a  ver.  12 b  John  21 :  25 e  2  Tim.  i: 


dent  autboritien  add  Christ 2  Two 


which  are  written  in  this  book.  Acts 
such  as  are  here,  and  in  the  previous  verse, 
condemned,  do  not  stand  alone,  in  any  case. 
Deliberate  and  purposed  corruption  or  denial 
of  divine  truth,  indicates  a  state  of  the  heart, 
and  is  wont  to  accompany  other  evidences  of 
that  "mind  of  the  flesh"  which  is  "not  sub- 
ject to  the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can 
be."  The  words,  "take  away  his  part," 
must  mean  the  same  as  "deny  him  any  part." 
The  whole  passage,  therefore,  should  be 
viewed  as  indicating  an  entire  condition  of 
heart  and  -life,  and  the  consequences  which 
follow  when  this  is  persistent,  incorrigible, 
and  unchanged  to  the  last.  Such  treatment 
of  "the  words  of  this  book,"  as  is  described 
and  condemned,  is  only  one  out  of  many 
signs  of  that  condition  to  which  no  word  of 
promise,  but  many  a  word  of  warning,  is 
spoken. 

20.  He  which  testifieth  these  things 
saith,  Surely,  I  come  quickly.    "He  which 

,  testifieth"  is  Jesus,  testifying  these  things  for 
the  churches.  He  is  to  "come"  again,  and 
"quickly."  "For  the  time  is  short" — short, 
measured  on  the  scale  of  eternity. — Amen  : 
even  so,  come.  Lord  Jesus.  The  response 
of  faith,  and  hope,  and  longing.  Omitting 
the  "even  so,"  lends  much  of  additional 
force.  The  apostolical  benediction  closes  the 
book. 

21.  The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
[of  the  Lord  Jesuii]  be  with  you  all.  Amen. 
Thus  with  the  words  of  ble.ssing  the  volume 
of  inspiration  ends;  even  as,  when  our  Lord 
ascended  in  view  of  his  disciples,  "while  he 
blessed  them,  he  was  parted  from  them  and 
carried  up  into  heaven." 

GENERAL    COMMENTS. 

As  far  as  to  the  twentieth  chapter,  we  have 
been  able  to  find,  in  the  history  of  the  past, 
or  in  aspects  of  the  present,  what  might  at 
least  illu.strate  for  us  the  deep,  and  often 
obscure,  meanings  of  the  visions  we  have 
studied.  From  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth 
chapter  to  the  close  of  the  book,  we  are, 
whatever  may  be  thought  in  that  respect  of 


previous  ones,  certainly  dealing  with  things 
yet  future.  And  these  future  things  arc  of  a 
nature  to  make  any  interjiretation  of  what 
is  written  of  them  so  much  the  more  diflScult. 
It  is  only  to  a  certain  extent  that,  at  the  best, 
we  may  hope  to  seize  the  clue  to  a  safe  and 
right  exposition. 

One  of  the  questions  which  a  careful  ex- 
positor finds  confronting  him,  is  the  question, 
how  far  he  is  to  treat  all  these  pictures,  espe- 
cially those  in  the  last  three  chapters,  as 
strictly  symbolical ;  and,  therefore,  to  be 
viewed  purely  as  pictures,  with  a  meaning 
and  a  lesson  to  be  sought  under  each  one;  and 
how  far,  upon  the  other  hand,  he  must  recog- 
nize the  real  and  actual  as  intermingling  with, 
or  underlying  all.  Points  like  these  present 
themselves  in  our  studj'  of  those  passages 
which  relate  to  the  millennium,  to  the  first 
and  second  resurrections,  the  general  judg- 
ment, the  new  heaven  and  new  earth,  the 
final  state  of  the  saved  and  lost;  while,  as  we 
shall  see  in  the  Excursus  below,  similar  diflS- 
culties  oifer  themselves  in  connection  with 
that  coming  of  the  Lord,  which  is  the  subject 
of  such  frequent  and  emphatic  mention.  The 
view  we  prefer  to  take  is,  that  the  symbolism 
of  the  book  is  pervasive  and  constant,  from 
beginning  to  end.  The  scenes  represented 
are  scenes  beheld  in  vision;  the  figures  that 
appear  in  them  are  symbolical  and  dramatic; 
the  language  used  is,  to  a  great  extent,  the 
language  of  allegory  and  symbol.  Great 
movements,  great  epochs  in  history,  mighty 
forces,  evil  or  good,  periods  of  time,  some- 
times indicated  by  numbers,  sometimes  not — 
these  are  the  things  dealt  with,  yet  always 
representatively,  in  symbol  and  picture. 

At  the  same  time,  we  are  not  to  view  this 
symbolism  as  of  such  a  nature  as  to  leave 
only  a  vague  and  unreal  result.  There  is  to 
be  a  blessing  in  knowing  and  "keeping  the 
sayings  of  this  book."  Our  Lord  appoints 
a  id  uses  a  special  angelic  ministry  to  "testify 
these  things  for  the  churches."  There  is 
something  to  be  learned  from  the  book,  and 
something  to  be  "kept";  some  instruction, 
help,   stimulus,  warning,   hope,  which  shall 


312 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XXII. 


prepare  the  Lord's  people — especially  his 
people  of  the  latter  day — for  the  Lord's 
work.  There  is  a  certain  renlistic  element 
which  must,  in  a  right  way,  be  after  all 
sought;  and  this,  from  time  to  time,  shows 
through  the  veil  of  the  symbolical  and  repre- 
sentative. This  realistic  element  we  have 
endeavored,  with  due  care,  to  trace,  and  so  to 
bring  out  those  salient  features  in  each  vision, 
which  compose  its  lesson.  Thus  we  hold  to  a 
real  millennium,  insisting  only  that  its  nature 
shall  be  rightly  understood ;  to  a  real  resur- 
rection, urging,  meanwhile,  that  its  true 
character,  and  its  true  place  in  the  great 
events  foreshadowed,  be  not  mistaken;  to  a 
real  judgment  of  quick  and  dead,  though 
declining  all  attempt  to  describe  it  in  detail, 
or  to  say  how  much  of  the  dread  picture  of  it 
that  is  given  us,  shall  be  seen  as  literal,  and 
how  much  as  imagery  ;  to  a  final  happy  state 
of  the  redeemed  in  a  prepared  world,  and  to 
a  final  fixed  condition  of  the  lost — recogniz- 
ing the  highly  pictorial  and  figurative  nature 
of  the  descriptions  given ;  and  confessing 
that  as  "eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard  .  .  . 
the  things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  them 
that  love  him,"  so  is  it  impossible  for  us  to 
know  precisely  how  his  justice  will  be  vindi- 
cated in  the  punishment  of  his  enemies.  The 
unrevealed  "secret  things"  involved,  espe- 
cially in  the  latter,  we  are  glad  to  leave  with 
him  who  will  "do  right." 

The  remarkable  manner  in  which  the 
wonderfully  rich  symbolism  of  this  book 
rests  back  upon  Old  Testament  type,  and 
history,  and  vision,  and  prophecy,  we  have 
often  had  occasion  to  notice.  The  fact  comes 
before  us  in  the  concluding  portions  of  the 
book,  in  a  form  peculiarly  interesting.  Two 
things  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  in  that 
Dispensation  of  which  it  is  the  record,  present 
themselves  to  us  as  in  an  especial  way  central 
and  significant.  Eden  and  Jerusalem — the 
Paradise  whicii  man  lost  by  his  fall,  the  city 
to  which  the  ll(;d<!emer  came,  and  where  he 
suflfered  in  fulfillment  of  that  promise  con- 
cerning "the  seed  of  the  woman"  —  about 
these  how  much  of  the  history  of  man's  need 
and  the  divine  provision  in  his  behalf,  gathers 
and  centres!  Each  is  a  type,  in  the  substance 
of  which  all  the  types  find  their  fulfillment; 
the  one,  of  what  the  divine  kindness  prepared 
for  man  in  creating  him;  the  other,  of  that 
grace  througli  which,  in  such  large  measure, 


the  calamity  of  the  fall  is  repaired.  We  are 
not  surprised,  therefore,  when  we  find  these 
two  great  types  combining  in  the  symbolism 
of  that  picture,  in  which  the  final  issues  and 
fruits  of  redemption  are  revealed  to  faith. 
And  each  is  needful  to  the  other,  that  the 
picture  may  be  complete.  The  city  must  show 
how  safe  the  garden  has  become ;  the  garden 
must  symbolize  the  beauty  and  felicity  of  re- 
deemed man's  final  home.  It  must  be  there, 
with  its  river  of  life  and  tree  of  life,  as  the 
city  must  be  there  with  its  engirdling  and 
protecting  wall. 

"I  am  not  sure,"  writes  Bossuet,  in  com- 
menting upon  this  part  of  our  book,  "if  any 
portion  of  Scripture  can  be  found  in  which 
terrors  and  consolations  are  better  inter- 
mingled than  they  are  in  the  these  last  two 
chapters.  There  is  everything  to  attract  in 
the  most  blessed  city ;  all  in  it  is  rich  and 
glorious ;  but  everything  is  also  fitted  to  in- 
spire one  with  dread — for  here  we  perceive 
still  more  of  purity  than  of  grandeur."  We 
should  especially  note  the  truth  of  the  con- 
cluding observation.  The  gold  of  the  streets 
and  the  dwellings,  the  clearness  "as  crystal" 
of  the  brightly  shining  river,  the  pearl  of  the 
gates,  the  precious  stones  of  the  foundation — 
these  all  are  in  harmony  with  the  express 
statement  made  that  into  this  city  no  manner 
of  unclean  thing  shall  ever  find  admission. 
It  is  to  be  noticed,  also,  that  one  conspicuous 
object  in  the  original  paradise  is  not  seen  in 
the  city  and  garden  of  the  redeemed — the  tree 
of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil.  Not  only 
as  the  symbol  of  man's  moral  trial,  his  pro- 
bation, does  it  have  no  place  where  that  pro- 
bation is  at  an  end,  but  also  as  significant  of 
temptation  and  of  possibilities  of  evil  to  man 
could  it  have  no  place  here.  Only  "the  tree 
of  life"  is  seen  bordering  the  river.  Evil, 
thenceforth,  will  survive  in  the  universe  of 
God  only  in  its  own  prison-house — a  memorial 
forever.  Eorceful,  indeed,  is  that  admonition  of 
an  inspired  apostle,  coming  home  to  us  in  this 
connection  :  "  What  manner  of  persons  ought 
we  to  be,"  since  we  look  for  such  things  "in 
all  holy  living  and  godliness?" — (Iteinsion.) 

Readers  do  not  need  to  be  reminded  how 
much  attention  is  given,  just  now,  to  the 
question  as  to  possibilities  of  a  probation  in 
nnin's  future  state.  We  must  emphasize  the 
fact  that  indications  of  such  a  i)robation  can- 
not, as  we  trust  our  exposition  has  shown,  be 


Ch.  XXII.] 


REVELATION. 


313 


found  anywhere  in  this  hook,  and,  least  of  all, 
in  the  closing  chapters,  without  forced  inter- 
pretations, to  which  the  careful  student 
should  give  no  entertainment.  Indeed,  the 
teaching  of  this  book  especially  enforces  the 
saying  of  Paul,  with  its  momentous  lesson : 
"Behold,  now  is  the  accepted  time;  behold, 
now  is  the  day  of  salvation."  The  conditions 
of  the  present  life  are  all  adjusted  to  its  pur- 
pose as  a  probation.  The  conditions  of  that 
life  of  which  such  impressive  pictures  appear 
in  the  pages  of  this  book,  are  those  of  a  state 
final  and  fixed.  In  that  state,  whether  it  be 
of  the  saved  or  of  the  lost, "the  former  things 
are  passed  away." 

EXCURSUS  F.— THE  COMING  OF  THE 
LORD. 

The  exposition  of  the  remarkable  writing 
with  which  we  have  in  previous  pages  been  oc- 
cupied, ought  not  to  finally  close,  without  a 
somewhat  more  careful  study  of  one  import- 
ant subject,  to  which  attention  has  repeatedly 
been  incidentally  directed.  It  is  not  our  pur- 
pose to  enter  at  large,  here,  into  the  question 
of  our  Lord's  second  coming.  That  would  re- 
quire such  a  treatment  of  the  general  doctrine 
of  the  New  Testament  on  this  subject  as  must 
tempt  us  to  transcend  our  province  as  ex- 
positors of  one  only  of  these  books,  and 
would  lead  to  general  discussions  lying,  more 
or  less,  apart  from  the  duty  assigned  to  us 
here.  We  shall,  accordingly,  limit  ourselves 
to  a  review  of  the  subject  so  far  as  it  comes 
before  us  in  the  book  we  are  studying.  Two 
main  points  of  inquiry  will  be  kept  in  view : 
(1)  What  does  the  book  teach,  or  cause  us  to 
infer,  as  to  the  certainty,  and  the  nature  of 
our  Lord's  Second  Coming?  (2)  What  does  it 
teach,  or  cause  us  to  infer,  as  to  the  time  of 
this  coming,  with  reference  to  that  other 
great  event,  the  millennium?  Will  it  he pre- 
millennial  or  post  -  milleimial  ?  We  have 
briefly  intimated  the  view  we  are  led  to  take 
upon  these  subjects,  in  the  Introduction.  A 
more  deliberate  and  extended  examination  of 
the  teachings  of  our  book  with  reference  to 
them,  must  now  claim  the  attention  of  the 
reader. 

It  may  have  already  been  noticed  that  the 
express  allusions,  in  the  Apocalypse,  to  the 
coming  of  the  Lord,  as  still  future,  are  found 
only  in  the  opening  and  closing  chapters  of 


the  book.  Three  several  times  in  the  last 
chapter  (ver.7.i2,2o),  we  have  the  words,  "Be- 
hold, I  come  quickly."  As  we  treat  much  of 
that  chapter  in  the  light  of  an  Epilogue,  that 
distinct  and  emphatic  utterance  becomes,  in 
that  view,  a  re-affirmation  of  the  solemn  an- 
nouncement in  ch.  1:7:  "Behold,  he  cometh 
with  clouds,  and  every  eye  shall  see  him,  and 
they  which  pierced  him,  and  all  the  tribes  of 
the  earth  shall  mourn  over  him.  Even  so. 
Amen."  {Revision).  These  words  are  evi- 
dently descriptive  of  that  judgment  of  the 
great  day  of  which  we  are  many  times  warned 
in  Scripture,  and  the  coming  of  the  Lord 
which  they  announce  is  manifestly  a  coming 
to  judge  the  world.  It  is  a  coming  that  must 
be  actual,  personal ;  one  that  shall  be  visible, 
majestic,  and  momentous  to  "all  the  tribes  of 
the  earth."  It  seems  a  fair  conclusion  that  it 
is  of  this  the  Lord  himself  speaks,  when  three 
several  times  in  the  closing  chai)ter  of  the 
book,  we  find  him  saying,  "Behold,  I  come 
quicklj'." 

With  a  view  to  see  how  this  conclusion 
may  be  sustained  by  the  results  of  inquiry, 
we  propose  here  to  examine  the  several  pas- 
sages in  the  Apocalypse  where  allusions  to 
the  Lord's  "coming"  occur,  arranging  them 
in  three  classes,  as,  first,  those  in  which  this 
event  is  expressly  mentioned ;  second,  those 
in  which  it  is  implied;  third,  passages  in 
which  it  is  foreshadowed. 

I.  PASSAGES  IN  WHICH  THIS  EVENT 
IS  EXPRESSLY  MENTIONED. 

The  words  in  ch.  1 :  7,  and  in  ch.  22:  7,  12, 
20,  have  already  been  quoted.  A  like  express 
mention,  orat  least  indication,  will  be  inferred 
by  all  who,  with  Alford,  understand  in  this 
way  the  "Come,"  at  the  opening  of  each  of 
the  four  first  .seals.  We  need  not  repeat  the 
considerations  which  led  us,  in  our  exposition, 
to  understand  the  word  in  that  place  quite 
differently  from  this.  In  ch.  3:  11,  however, 
we  read:  "I  come  quickly;  hold  fast  that 
which  thou  hast,  that  no  man  take  thy 
crown."  The  words  occur  in  the  epistle,  or 
message,  to  the  Church  at  Philadelphia.  The 
language  is  so  far  identical  with  the  utter- 
ances quoted  from  the  last  chapter  of  the 
book,  that  the  passage  seems  to  belong  with 
those,  although  there  may  be  allusion  in  them 
to  other  forms  of  the  Lord's  "coming,"  be- 


314 


REVELATION. 


[Ch.  XXII. 


sides  that  which  is  to  occur  at  the  end  of  the 
age,  or  dispensation. 

These  three — some  may  think  that  we  ought 
to  include  in  the  group  those  merely  in  chap- 
ters first  and  twenty-second  —  are  the  only 
places  in  the  book  in  which  the  second  coming 
of  the  Lord  is  mentioned  in  a  manner  so  ex- 
press and  definite  as  to  leave  no  occasion  for 
doubt  as  to  the  meaning.  The  fact  may  appear 
surprising  to  one  who,  in  studying  the  book, 
seems  to  see  that  great  event  continually  in 
the  horizon  of  the  far  and  dim  future,  and  to 
perceive  a  continual  movement  of  human 
history,  in  its  eras  and  epochs,  its  great  streams 
and  tributaries,  on  toward  that  "final  appear- 
ing." The  reason  seems  to  be  found  in  the 
very  nature  and  theme  of  the  book  itself.  It 
is  not  history,  like  the  Gospels;  it  is  not  doc- 
trinal and  experimental  teaching,  like  the 
Epistles.  It  is  prophecy,  and  prophecy  cast 
in  the  form  of  vision  and  picture.  Its  great 
theme  is  the  Kingdom  of  God,  in  its  origin 
under  Christian  organism  and  manifestation; 
its  ordeal,  amidst  conflict,  suflering,  and 
many  calamitous  vicissitudes;  its  progress 
under  better  auspices  as  the  latter  day  draws 
on ;  and  its  final  glorious  victory  and  beati- 
tude. Much  of  the  book — all  the  intermedi- 
ate chapters — is  occupied  with  the  fortunes 
of  this  "Church  of  the  Living  God"  in  its 
militant  state.  The  Apocalyptic  stage  is 
crowded  with  figures  and  with  incidents  rep- 
resentative of  that  which  should  become 
history  as  the  ages  and  centuries  rolled  away. 
From  time  to  time  glimpses  of  the  end  are 
seen— foreshadowings,  as  we  shall  note  pres- 
ently ;  but  that  end  of  the  Dispensation  is  not 
3'et,  in  these  intermediate  chapters,  distinctly 
the  theme  of  prediction,  and  so  we  find  no- 
where in  them  any  express  mention  of  that 
which  is,  beyond  all  else,  to  characterize  this 
event — the  coming  of  the  Lord. 

Now,  if  we  view  the  three-fold  utterance, 
"Behold,  I  come  quickly,"  in  the  last  chap- 
ter, as  a  re-affirniiition  of  what  is  so  solemnly 
announced  in  the  first,  the  meaning  in  the 
one  place  must  be  the  same  as  in  the  other. 
The  question  may  arise,  how  then  the  com- 
ing of  the  Lord  could  be  to  John  himself  an 
object  of  such  d(!sire  as  is  expressed  in  the 
closing  words  of  the  book,  where,  in  response 
to  the  "  I  come,"  we  find  him  eagerly  calling, 
"Come,  Lord  Jesus!"  There  are  those  who 
think  that  the  words   in  allusion  to  Christ's 


appearing  in  judgment,  "all  the  tribes  of  the 
earth  shall  mourn  because  of  him,"  imply 
that  even  to  the  redeemed  of  the  Lord,  them- 
selves, that  event  will  be  one  of  awe  and  of 
self-humiliation,  if  not  of  terror.  In  any 
case,  it  may  be  urged  with  force  and  justice, 
how  can  what  is  in  its  nature  rather  terror- 
striking  than  joyful,  and  necessarily  charged 
with  awful  consequences  to  great  multitudes 
of  mankind,  be  even  to  one  who  has  no  real 
reason  to  fear  it  an  occasion  of  longing  desire? 
The  answer  to  this  would  be  that  the  coming 
of  the  Lord,  even  his  coming  to  judge  the 
world,  is  the  central  event  in  a  great  series  of 
events,  the  contemplation  of  which  is  adapted 
to  inspire  the  spiritual  mind  with  other  emo- 
tions than  those  which  the  contemplation  of 
the  judgment  alone  would  awaken.  We 
must  suppose  that  of  the  things  brought  to 
John's  attention  in  these  closing  visions,  it  is 
not  alone  the  great  white  throne  and  the 
judgment  of  quick  and  dead  that  dwells  in 
his  memory  and  fills  his  thought.  Beginning 
with  what  the  twentieth  chapter  records,  we 
have  a  succession  of  pictures,  than  which 
nothing  could  be  more  glorious  and  inspiring. 
In  these,  John  had  revealed  to  him  the  end 
and  the  consummation  of  that  in  whose  be- 
ginning he  had  himself  so  largely  shared,  and 
whose  history  during  centuries  was  to  be  such 
a  scene  of  vicissitude  and  ordeal.  He  sees 
the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the  splendor  of  its 
final  triumph,  and  the  nations  of  the  saved 
in  the  beatitude  of  realized  redemption.  So 
far  from  having  connection  witli  the  judg- 
ment alone,  and  so  associated  with  ideas  of 
awe  and  terror  only,  the  thought  of  the 
Lord's  coming  is  in  association  with  all  these 
glories  and  felicities  of  the  new  heaven  and 
earth,  and  the  holy  city  in  whose  fadeless 
light  the  redeemed  enjoy  eternal  day.  It  is 
that  he  may  "bring  with  him"  all  this,  that 
John  responds  to  the  promise  with  the  long- 
ing cry,  "Come,  Lord  Jesus!"  It  would 
seen),  too,  that  at  some  such  point  of  view  as 
this,  the  "coming"  was  contemplated  by  all 
the  apostles.  And,  indeed,  this  question 
whether  the  Lord's  coming  will  be  strictly 
pre-millennial  or  post-millennial,  does  not 
seem  to  be  a  vital  one  in  the  way  that  many 
appear  to  suppose.  "While  the  actual  per- 
sonal manifestation  of  which  such  frequent 
mention  is  nnide,  may  occur  in  connec'tion 
with  that  final  great  assize  in  which  judgment 


Ch.  XXII.] 


REVELATION. 


81^ 


is  pronounced,  and  every  man  goes  to  "his 
own  place,"  there  is  a  sense  in  which  the 
ushering  in  of  the  millennium  itself  is  a 
"coming  of  the  Lord."  The  closing  part  of 
the  nineteenth  chapter,  the  appearance  of  the 
glorious  Rider  on  the  white  horse,  points  to 
events  in  which,  without  any  personal  mani- 
festation, there  may  be  such  a  "revelation  of 
Jesus  Christ"  as  will  characterize  one  of  the 
most  glorious  eras  in  the  whole  history  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  Indeed,  the  millen- 
nium itself  seems  clearly  brought  on  by  such 
a  display  of  divine  power  in  connection  with 
a  world-wide  preaching  of  the  gospel  as  must 
far  transcend  all  that  has  before  been  known 
in  the  experience  of  the  militant  church. 
This,  too,  foreshadows  that  final  consumma- 
tion which  comes  at  the  judgment;  and  so,  in 
a  certain  way,  the  beginning  and  the  close  of 
the  millennium  constitute  one  "revelation  of 
Jesus  Christ,"  in  which  he  first  appears  in 
the  wonderful  victories  of  conquering  grace, 
and  in  the  other  revealed  "from  heaven  with 
the  angels  of  his  power  in  flaming  fire,  ren- 
dering vengeance  to  them  that  know  not  God, 
and  to  them  that  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our 

Lord  Jesus."    (2Thess.  1:8.    Revision). 

We  have  no  right  to  expect  that  this  will 
meet  the  views  of  those  who  hold  to  a  per- 
sonal second  coming  as  the  ushering  event 
of  the  millennium.  It,  however,  indicates 
our  own  convictions  as  to  the  manner  in  which 
that  "blessed  hope  and  appearing  of  the  glory 
of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ"  (Tit.2:i3.  Sevision)^  is  exhibited  under  a 
more  express  form  in  the  book  we  are  here 
studying. 

II.  PASSAGES  IN  AYHICH  THIS 
EA^ENT  IS  IMPLIED. 
We  group,  here,  passages  such  as  the  fol- 
lowing: "He  that  overcometh  shall  thus  be 
arrayed  in  white  garments;  and  I  will  in  no 
wise  blot  his  name  out  of  the  book  of  life,  and 
,  I  will  confess  his  name  before  my  Father  and 
before  his  angels  "(ch.  3: 5.  Revision);  "He  that 
overcometh,  I  will  give  to  him  to  sit  down 
with  me  in  my  throne,  as  I  also  overcame, 
and  sat  down  with  my  Father  in  his  throne" 
(:!:2i.  Revision);  "And  he  that  overcometh,  and 
he  that  keepeth  my  works  unto  the  end,  to 
him  will  I  give  authority  over  the  nations: 
and  he  shall  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron,  as 
the  vessels  of  the  potter  are  broken  in  shiv- 


ers"  (ch.  2:26,  27.    Revision);  "And    I    heard    aS    it 

were  the  voice  of  a  great  multitude,  and  as 
the  voice  of  many  waters,  and  as  the  voice  of 
mighty  thunders,  saying.  Hallelujah  :  for  the 
Lord  our  God,  the  Almighty,  reigneth.  Let 
us  rejoice  and  be  exceeding  glad,  and  let  us 
give  glory  unto  him :  for  the  marriage  of  the 
Lamb  is  come,  and  his  wife  hath  made  her- 
self ready"  (cb.  i9;6, 7.  Revision);  "And  I  saw  a 
great  white  throne,  and  him  that  sat  upon  it, 
from  whose  face  the  earth  and  the  heaven  fled 
away :  and  there  was  found  no  place  for 
them.  And  I  saw  the  dead,  the  great  and  the 
small,  standing  before  the  throne :  and  books 
were  opened,  and  another  book  was  opened, 
which  is  the  book  of  life:  and  the  dead  were 
judged  out  of  the  things  which  were  written 

in  the  books"   (ch.  20:11,12.     Revision). 

We  copy  these  passages  in  full,  in  order 
that  their  mutual  and  general  bearing  may  be 
the  more  readily  seen.  There  is  no  express 
mention  in  them  of  any  coming  of  the  Lord, 
yet  their  full  meaning  cannot  be  reached 
without  assuming  that  event  as  implied.  The 
promises  to  "him  that  overcometh"  of  re- 
cognition in  the  presence  of  the  Father  and 
the  angels ;  of  reigning  with  Christ  in  the 
consummation  of  his  kingdom  ;  the  announce- 
ment of  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb,  indicating 
that  final  union  of  Christ  and  his  church 
which  reaches  its  fullness  only  when  at  last 
"he  shall  come  to  be  admired  in  all  them  that 
believe";  and  above  all,  that  judgment  of  the 
great  day  in  which  our  Lord  is  himself  the 
Judge,  since  "the  Father  hath  committed  all 
judgment  unto  the  Son"— these  all  iniply, 
each  in  its  own  way,  that  event  of  which  such 
more  express  mention  is  elsewhere  made.  It 
is  to  be  noticed,  however,  that  the  only  fur- 
ther implication,  as  to  tiie  time  of  this  coming 
with  reference  to  the  millennium,  is  in  the  last 
of  the  passages  mentioned  (perhaps,  also,  in  3: 
5,  where  occurs  the  promise  of  recognition  in 
the  presence  of  God  ajid  the  angels),  and  what 
of  implication  we  find  there,  certainly  favors 
the  view  of  those  who  believe  that  the  actual, 
personal,  and  visible  second  coming  of  Christ 
will  be  when  he  comes  to  judge  the  world. 

IIL  PASSAGES   IN  WHICH  IT  IS 
FORESHADOWED. 

One  of  these  is  ch.  7:  9-17,  where  we  read 
of  the  "great  multitude  that  no  man  could 
number.  •  .  standing  before  the  throne  and 


316 


REVELATION, 


[Ch.  XXII. 


before  the  Lamb,  arrayed  in  white  robes,  and 
palms  in  their  hands"  .  .  .  who  had  "come 
up  out  of  great  tribulation,  and  they  washed 
their  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb."'  These  "serve  him  day  and 
night  in  his  temple;  and  he  that  sitteth  on  the 
throne  shall  spread  his  tabernacle  over  them," 
etc.  We  speak  of  this  passage  a,s  foreshadow- 
ing the  event  to  which  we  refer,  because  the 
whole  incident,  as  it  appears  to  John,  is  sym- 
bolical and  anticipatory.  The  sealing  of  the 
tribes  had  just  taken  place,  and  this  next 
succeeding  picture  anticipates  and  fore- 
shadows the  final  result  of  that  sealing,  which 
is  to  be  a  "multitude"  of  saved  ones  past  all 
po.ssibilities  of  enumeration,  in  a  condition  of 
holiness  and  felicity,  perfect  and  eternal.  No 
personal  manifestation  of  the  Lord  in  a 
second  advent  is  anywhere  in  the  passage 
announced,  nor  even  distinctly  implied;  but 
when  we  connect  the  passage  with  others,  we 
see  that  it  anticipates  that  whole  series  of 
crowning  events,  as  the  consummation  of 
human  history  in  this  world,  in  which  that 
second  coming  of  the  Lord  fills  so  large  a 
place. 

Another  like  passage  is  that  which  describes 
the  sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet,  with 
what  followed  upon  that.  We  have  tried  to 
show  in  the  exposition  that  what  is  written 
there  (on.  u:  15,  etsc?.)  should  not  be  interpreted 
as  primarily  and  expressly  descriptive  of 
events  of  the  last  day.  The  voices  in  heaven, 
"The  kingdom  of  the  world  is  become  the 
kingdom  of  our  LOrd,  and  of  his  Christ,  and 
he  shall  reign  forever  and  ever,"  announce 
an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  king- 
dom of  God  and  of  his  Christ,  rather 
than  the  closing  cha2^ters  of  it — a  new  mani- 
festation and  exercise  of  divine  power  in  the 
kingdom  of  grace,  thenceforth  to  become 
more  and  more  express  and  victorious,  until 
all  opposition  shall  be  subdued,  and  evil 
itself  shall  be  swept  from  the  scene,  and  im- 
prisoned forever.  In  the  exposition  we  have 
preferred  to  adopt,  the  age  in  which  we  live 
falls  within  this  jieriod  of  the  advancing  and 
victorious  kingdom  of  God,  while  at  the  end 
of  the  period  will  be  found  in  their  consum- 
mation the  things  foreshadowed  in  the  words, 
"  the  time  of  the  dead  to  be  judged,  and  the 
time  to  give  their  reward  unto  thy  servants, 
the  prophets,  and  to  the  saints,  and  to  them 
that  fear  thy  name,  the  small  and  the  great; 


and  to  destroy  them  that  destroj'  the  earth." 
In  some  sense,  these  words  have  a  present  ful- 
fillment, but  the  supreme  fulfillment  will 
come  at  the  end ;  and  connected  with  it,  as 
parallel  Scriptures  show,  will  be  the  Lord's 
own  personal  second  coming. 

Of  like  purport,  in  their  ultimate  meaning, 
the  passages  seem  to  be  which  we  find  at  the 
end  of  the  fourteenth  chapter,  descriptive  of 
the  harvest  and  the  vintage;  and  again  at  the 
end  of  the  sixteenth,  and  in  the  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth,  descriptive  of  the  final  de- 
struction of  Babylon.  These  events  belong 
to  the  closing  scenes  of  the  Dispensation,  in- 
cluding the  millennium,  with  the  events  that 
bring  it  on,  the  last  judgment,  in  which  the 
final  visitations  of  divine  justice  come  upon 
the  world  of  wicked  men,  with  the  devil  and 
his  angels,  and  the  ultimate  supreme  triumph 
of  holiness  in  the  universe  of  God.  These  are 
all  foreshadowed,  and  as  belonging  with  them 
the  "revelation  of  Jesus  Christ"  in  his  second 
glorious  coming. 

KESULT  OF  THE  INQUIRY. 

From  what  has  now  been  said  as  to  the 
direct  and  inferential  teachings  of  our  book 
with  reference  to  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  we 
draw  these  conclusions:  (1)  That  it  teaches 
us  to  expect,  at  the  end  of  the  age,  or  Present 
Dispensation,  an  actual,  personal  second  com- 
ing of  Christ;  (2)  That  this  book  does  not 
exj^ressly  declare  the  time  of  this  second  ap- 
pearing of  the  Lord,  with  reference  to  the 
millennium,  that  is  to  saj',  whether  it  shall 
be  pre-millennial,  or  post-millennial;  (3) 
That  inferentially,  it  connects  this  advent 
with  the  general  judgment,  and  so  makes  it 
post-millennial;  (4)  That  the  attitude  of  the 
book,  as  a  whole,  toward  the  doctrine  of  the 
Lord's  second  coming,  is  quite  in  keeping 
with  its  attitude  toward  Christian  doctrine  in 
general.  Perhaps  there  is  no  book  of  the 
New  Testament  that  is  more  thoroughly 
evangelical  in  tone,  and  in  its  underlying 
doctrine,  than  the  Apocalypse ;  at  the  same 
time,  it  is  not,  in  any  sense  of  the  word, 
didactic.  It  is  a  poem,  rather  than  a  treatise. 
And  still,  it  would  be  diflicult  to  name  any 
fundamental  truth  of  the  gosjiel  which  does 
not  here  find  recognition.  Scarcely'  any 
book  of  the  Bible  so  clearly  and  forcibly  sets 
forth  our  Lord's  divinity.  His  incarnation 
and   vicarious  suffering  are  often  brought  to 


Ch.  XXIL] 


REVELATION. 


317 


view  in  the  most  vivid  terms  of  pictorial  rep- 
resentation. Redemption  by  faith  in  his 
blood  is  the  theme  of  repeated  heavenly 
choruses  which  John,  in  describing,  almost 
makes  his  readers,  themselves,  hear.  Per- 
sonal holiness  as  a  token  of  applied  redemp- 
tion; and  electing  and  covenant  grace  as  at 
the  head  of  all — these  are  not  more  clearly 
taught  by  Paul  himself  then  is  done  in  this 
book,  so  thronged  with  imagery  and  symbol. 
And  yet,  express  and  formal  doctrinal  teach- 
ing is  nowhere  in  it  to  be  found.  As  with  refer- 
ence to  Christian  doctrine  in  general,  so  of  the 
doctrine  of  our  Lord's  coming.  The  book  is 
nowhere  didactic  or  formal  in  its  teaching 
upon  this  subject ;  yet  in  the  ways  which  we 
have  tried  to  indicate  above  it  treats  the 
event  as  sure,  while  giving  us  some  intima- 
tions of  its  nature  and  of  its  relation  to  other 
events  belonging,  like  itself,  to  the  "end  of 
the  age." 

The  word  "quickly,"  used  so  repeatedly  by 
our  Lord  in  this  book  when  announcing  his 
second  coming,  harmonizes  perfectly  with  the 
general  New  Testament  view  of  this  event, 


and  with  representations  of  it  by  our  Lord 
himself  in  certain  of  his  parables.  The 
word  has  no  polemical  value  either  for 
those  who  hold  to  a  pre-millennial  coming, 
or  for  those  who  place  the  great  event  a  thou- 
sand years  later.  If  it  is  to  be  taken  abso- 
lutely, it  is  as  difficult  of  explanation,  really, 
for  the  one  of  these  theories  as  for  the  other; 
since  not  even  can  a  coming  to  usher  in  the 
millennium  be,  strictly  speaking,  a  coming 
"  quickly."  It  seems  to  have  been  the  Lord's 
intention  that  the  attitude  of  his  church  dur- 
ing the  whole  period  between  his  Ascension 
and  his  Return,  .should  be  an  attitude  of 
expectancy.  And  in  a  true  sense — although 
not  in  a  limited,  temporal  sense — this  return 
"to  take  account  of  liis  servants"  would  in 
each  age,  even  in  that  of  the  apostles  them- 
selves, be  "near."  Measured  on  the  scale  of 
God's  great  plan,  "a  thousand  years  are  as 
one  daj'."  We  have  no  right  to  assume  that 
he  will  estimate  his  own  periods  by  those 
intervals  of  earthly  time  which,  however, 
they  may  seem  to  us,  are  in  truth  but  as 
seconds  on  the  dial  of  eternity. 


"^       '■W       >H^-C-.  -^ra3i^-"^!^js?r  ^t^wi^  .    ■-^"       '*^ 


>^        ,v        JT 


DATE  DUE 


GAYLORD 


,^  ^  ,^  *-  .^" 


im^ 


^^' 


*■  3?"  >*" 


INTED  IN  U    S 


>r       ■>c 


^  JH  JK-  f 


jf(       Jn 


V  iU!  *■"  i- 


,»  Jr 


K        ^ 


J>r-    ->- 


J*-        ->•       -Jf       Jr 


,r         -«         '.■<r        <^        yT 


BS2341.A512V.7 
Commentary  on  the  Revelation. 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00056  1284 


wmm' 


